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Downtown ExpressPark Project on the Fast-Track

By Eric Richardson
Published: Thursday, October 08, 2009, at 01:06PM
New Meters on 5th Eric Richardson []

New meter heads like this one on 5th near Broadway accept credit cards and are solar powered. LADOT expects to deploy these enhanced meters across Downtown in 2010.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — 13,000 parking spaces in Downtown are slated to receive a technological upgrade as part of LADOT's new federally-funded ExpressPark program. 5,500 on-street spaces and 7,500 city-owned garage spots will take part in the effort, which will bring new meters, directional signage and pricing models to Downtown streets by the end of 2010.

The program is part of Metro's $290-million , which will bring demand-based toll pricing to the carpool lanes of the 110 and 10 freeways.

LADOT kicked off a pilot program for new meter technology in 2008, and one year ago multi-space pay stations were deployed in several Downtown locations.

The results of the deployment have the department convinced that new technology will bring big gains for on-street parking. LADOT staff told the city's Board of Transportation Commissioners today that real-time maintenance alerts and the ability to accept credit cards has helped the new meters to produce 15 - 20% higher revenue than traditional models, with credit cards accounting for half of all transactions.

The City will soon be issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to update all of its 40,000 meters to new meter technology (which encompasses a variety of solutions, not just pay stations), but the ExpressPark effort is being fast-tracked due to the federal funding involved.

On the streets, Downtowners should expect to see new "enhanced" single-space parking meters that accept credit cards, new directional signage advising of real-time parking availability and new pricing models that adjust to demand.

The directional signage will involve the larger information signs currently installed various places Downtown as well as smaller block-level signs that will provide directions based on data from sensors embedded in the streets.

Behind the scenes, the program will involve a new central management system that collects meter data and allows the department to better understand usage.

While pricing could eventually be set in real-time based on usage, for now LADOT staff expect to see models that change meter costs based on the time of day, or that escalate the price the longer someone wishes to stay parked. The goal is to keep parking spaces 70 - 90% full.

The ExpressPark program will encompass meters and city-owned garages in the area bounded by the 110 freeway, Alameda and the 10 freeway, including Chinatown and an area south of the 10 between the 110 and San Pedro street. The federal government is providing $15 million in funding, with the City contributing a $3 million local match.

The department told the Board of Transportation Commissioners that it expects to bring RFPs for both the citywide meter update and the ExpressPark project back to the body at its next meeting.

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Conversation

Guest 1

toothless on October 08, 2009, at 05:01PM – #1

oh please hurry and make all the parking meters in downtown digital. i am just sooo sick of seeing people using them as ATMs by inserting wires. i see this happen everyday but never said anything for safty reasons. it's disgusting to see them walk right into the markets and buy alcohol with the money they just stole.

THIS IS SO WRONG!


Guest 2

Rich Alossi on October 08, 2009, at 05:23PM – #2

Do you know what $3.00 in loose change looks like? 'Cos that's what an hour costs in Downtown, and most of my guests who drive don't have close to that much in their cars. This is a great step forward.


Guest 3

anthony on October 08, 2009, at 06:37PM – #3

Does anybody know the names of the companies bidding for this project? I'd like to invest in them :)


Guest 4

Oscar on October 09, 2009, at 05:09AM – #4

are these the ones that will work with an iphone?

And here is another "socialist" idea like "those" you guys hate so much; instead of RE-fixing the streets with meters why doesn't the city take ALL the parking spaces out of the streets (thus alleviating traffic therefore reducing congestion and pollution) by buying or building parking garages and operate them trough this same method of "demand pricing" so we can stop paying millions of dollars a year to greedy individuals ($20 for a sopt?) that sometimes don't even pay their taxes themselves....


Guest 5

Jasmijn on October 09, 2009, at 11:06AM – #5

Confused about this bit: "models that change meter costs based on the time of day, or that escalate the price the longer someone wishes to stay parked. The goal is to keep parking spaces 70 - 90% full." Does that mean that the per-minute cost goes up the longer you want to park? How does keep more parking spaces full? Or is the goal to reduce the # of full parking spaces (meaning, is the 70-90% less than the current occupied rate)?

On my street, the parking is $4/hr. Now that's a handful of change. But parking in a lot easily runs that much for half an hour or less, so that's not really a viable option either for people who just have a brief-ish stop rather than spending all day downtown.

Dear fellow DTLA residents: what do you do when non-downtown friends come to visit? Be a good host and pay for their parking, or warn them to bring extra cash for the pleasure of joining you? I haven't found a solution I like yet.


Eric Richardson () on October 09, 2009, at 12:20PM – #6

Jasmijn: The goal is for on-street spaces to be used for shorter-term parking, with those who need to stay longer parking in a lot or garage. Escalating the price (so maybe first hour is $1, second is $2, etc) helps encourage that.

Most lots / structures have high fees for short parks, but outside of the Financial District they typically max out at $8 or so. They just hit that max really quickly.


Guest 1

toothless on October 09, 2009, at 10:59PM – #7

i love taking the subway to downtown for my classes. not only hate paying high prices for parking i also hate driving into a muti story garage or driving around the block trying to find a spot. it just takes to much effort. train is always easy and u can read while on the train or people watch



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