Downtown Parking Management Study

Parking management is the process of actively planning and managing parking spaces and their use, including how long vehicles may park, who may use certain spaces, and whether payment or permits are required. Public parking spaces use land that is publicly owned and shared by everyone through the city government for storing private property (individual people’s cars). Parking management aims to provide fair and efficient access to this shared public resource. It involves taking an active role in providing and using parking, focusing on how best to use parking to support community goals and priorities.

Parking management differs from a more passive approach to parking, which has traditionally focused on providing as much parking as the land area and city budget can accommodate, at little or no cost to the user.

Parking management is part of a larger transportation planning toolbox called transportation demand management (TDM). TDM focuses on how to manage transportation resources and travel behavior to achieve community objectives. In addition to parking, TDM addresses other aspects of transportation, such as how people choose to get around (travel modes) and when, where, and how much they drive (driving behavior), typically with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and encouraging more options for how people can get around.

While parking provides several benefits (such as supporting local businesses), it is not an infinite resource and is often costly to build and maintain. These costs are frequently passed on to everyone, regardless of whether they use the parking spaces or even own a car.

While some parking spaces are priced (for example, through meters, parking permit programs, or other mechanisms), the vast majority of parking is provided free of charge to the end user, shifting the cost of providing that parking to the community. These costs typically go beyond construction or maintenance costs.

For example, unmanaged parking encourages more driving, resulting in poorer air quality, increased greenhouse gas emissions, higher noise levels, and greater traffic safety risks. Parking also requires significant physical space that could otherwise support other community priorities, such as mixed-use housing; green spaces like plazas, trees, or mini-parks; safer bike lanes and sidewalks; dedicated loading zones; additional space to support local business operations; or flexible community spaces.

Although parking is often seen as a convenience, it can have broader effects on community priorities, such as traffic safety from drivers circling for parking or paying attention to potential parking spaces instead of other users of the road, neighborhood walkability, environmental quality, and the ability to support local businesses and housing. Thoughtful parking management helps balance these priorities to support safety, access, livability, and long-term community goals.

Transportation demand management (TDM) describes policies, programs, or resources that support and incentivize sustainable travel choices like walking, biking, riding public transit, or carpooling. TDM is an important strategy to reduce traffic by decreasing single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips, while ensuring people still have options to reach their destinations. TDM also delivers environmental benefits (lower emissions, better air quality) and health benefits (reduced risk of injury and collision, and public health benefits through increased active transportation). The goal is to reduce traffic congestion, free up parking, and cut greenhouse gas emissions, all while giving residents  practical choices for getting around.

Downtowns serve as the centers of our cities and towns. They facilitate commercial activity that creates jobs and provides vital goods and services, and provide public (and private) spaces that help build community. Our downtown also serves as a hub of local and regional public transit that connects us with the larger region. This pattern repeats itself up and down the Peninsula, where communities grew and developed around train stations on what is now the Caltrain system.

Prior to the advent of the personal automobile and the adoption of restrictive zoning policies, it was common to have mixed-use downtowns where residential uses co-existed alongside offices, retail, hotels, and other uses. Downtowns welcomed a diverse array of residents, including recent immigrants, young adults, and others, who mingled with other workers and with residents from different parts of the city. Downtown residents provided a steady and stable customer base to support local businesses outside the Monday-through-Friday office crowd. They could meet most, if not all, of their daily needs within a short walking distance, while public transit, such as buses, trains, and streetcars, provided a convenient option for longer-distance travel. This pattern was once common across the United States and is still prevalent in many parts of the world such as Europe and Asia, but land use and transportation policies in the United States shifted to favor personal automobiles and suburban residents commuting into downtown by car. This resulted in dramatic changes to how our downtowns look and feel. Older, frequently historic buildings and sites (and, in some cases, entire neighborhoods) were demolished to build and expand the interstate highway network, redesign local streets for maximum traffic speed and throughput, and pave the way for new office/retail developments and parking.

Faced with pressing issues such as housing affordability and climate change, many American cities and towns are re-envisioning their downtowns to meet today’s needs and help them thrive again.

Many cities throughout the Bay Area and beyond are working on managing the limited resource that is public parking. For the purposes of this Plan, a couple examples that may be helpful for Menlo Park to reference include, but are not limited to, Burlingame and San Carlos.

Burlingame

Downtown Burlingame parking strategies are designed to keep the area vibrant and welcoming for shoppers, residents, and employees while supporting walking, biking, and transit. The approach treats parking as a shared resource that works alongside Downtown’s businesses, housing, and public spaces. One key strategy is shared parking, recognizing that uses such as offices and restaurants are complementary and often have peak parking demands at different times of day. By allowing these uses to share the same spaces, fewer total stalls are needed, which reduces circling and congestion.

Burlingame also connects parking management to its broader goal of designing streets for people. Safer bike routes, wider sidewalks, and flexible curb areas that give curb space more than one purpose. Instead of curb spaces being used only for parking, these areas can support bike racks, street trees and landscaping, or other community needs depending on the time of day.

Another strategy is the implementation of smart parking meters, which help ensure turnover, improve access, and make it easier for visitors to find available spaces.

San Carlos

San Carlos is rethinking how parking and transportation fit into the city’s long-term growth, housing, and climate goals. Through its transportation demand management (TDM) and parking regulations, San Carlos is updating parking rules and travel demand strategies. This project is guided by community input, regional and state policy, and advisory and decision-making bodies.

San Carlos is developing a Shared Parking Strategy to create “park-once” districts as part of this effort. These districts let people leave their cars in one space and walk to multiple destinations rather than re-parking several times. This makes public parking more efficient and reduces downtown traffic.

San Carlos is also working to make better use of its existing parking supply. Recent steps include updating enforcement hours, revisiting the in-lieu fees developers pay instead of providing on-site parking, and exploring new technologies, such as license plate readers and pavement sensors, to track turnover and improve enforcement without immediately turning to installing new parking meters.

Transit-oriented communities (TOCs) are neighborhoods that enable people to access and use transit more often for more trips by centering housing, jobs, services, and shopping around public transit. The goal is to make it easier for people to use transit for daily trips, reducing the need to drive. TOCs are designed to work for people of all ages, abilities, and income levels, creating places where residents and workers can live, travel, and thrive.

The Transit-Oriented Communities (TOC) Policy connects land use and transportation by prioritizing housing, jobs, services, and shopping near transit hubs, such as train stations and bus corridors. This approach puts public transportation within easier reach for more people in the Bay Area and supports the long-term success of our public transit services.

By encouraging more development near transit stations, the TOC Policy helps to ensure that future growth is environmentally sensitive and improves mobility and quality of life for all Bay Area residents, regardless of their age, ability, income level, or racial and ethnic background.

The TOC Policy was established by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), the agency responsible for regional urban planning for the nine-county Bay Area. The TOC Policy is part of Plan Bay Area 2050, the regional long-range transportation and land use plan that looks ahead 25 years.

One of the key benefits of complying with the MTC TOC Policy is improved eligibility for regional funding programs. One example is the One Bay Area Grant (OBAG) program, which distributes federal transportation funding for regional projects to enhance mobility, accessibility, equity, and sustainability. The City has received three rounds of OBAG grants, including the Valparaiso Safe Routes to School project (to fill pedestrian gaps and add green bike treatments), the Santa Cruz and Middle Avenue rehabilitation project (to fill sidewalk gaps, install flashing beacons, and resurface pavement), and additional funding for the Middle Avenue undercrossing. Compliance with the TOC Policy will be considered one of the criteria for the next round of OBAG grants, which could strengthen the City’s competitiveness for future funding to invest in our city and continually improve to meet community needs today and tomorrow.

The area around the Menlo Park Caltrain Station is one of over 375 areas in the Bay Area designated by MTC as a transit-oriented community. The TOC Policy has specific requirements related to parking management for designated transit-oriented community areas, along with other guidelines related to development density, minimizing displacement, and improving transit station access.

To remain eligible for future grant funding administered by MTC, the City is evaluating ways to align with the TOC Policy. If the City does not take steps to meet the TOC Policy by early 2026, it may become ineligible for significant funding for future transportation planning and infrastructure projects. These grant programs previously funded a range of projects that reflect community priorities, including:

• Traffic calming, traffic safety, streetscape, and Vision Zero projects (e.g., intersection improvements, Safe Routes to School, and Complete Streets projects)
• Active transportation (biking, walking) and trail projects
• Mobility hubs and shared mobility projects (e.g., bikeshare)
• Transportation electrification projects (e.g., charging infrastructure, EV fleet planning)
• Transit projects (e.g., signal priority)
• Land use plans (specific or area plans)

One of the key benefits of parking management for business owners and patrons is that it can help ensure that parking spaces are available when needed. By encouraging turnover, a single space can serve multiple customers throughout the day, rather than being occupied by one vehicle for hours. Parking management generally seeks to improve the efficiency of parking resources. For example, time limits or pricing can incentivize drivers to use the available parking more efficiently than when parking is provided at no cost or without restrictions.

Parking management can also help ensure that at least one or more spaces remain available on busy streets, are always unoccupied, and are available for arriving customers, reducing the hassle of circling the block to find open parking. Parking management can address business-specific needs, such as deliveries, by reserving curb space for loading zones and larger vehicles when needed.