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What are Transportation Management Plans (TMPs)? |
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Currently, policy makers and developers meet
resident transportation needs by one dominant method: providing
parking. Transportation Management Plans (TMPs) are a program of
activities and services in addition or instead of parking that developers,
property managers, and policy makers agree to provide residents to improve
services to residents. The result may be a family avoiding adding a
second or third car, or even not buying a car at all. Developers may
want to implement and submit TMPs because the savings from parking
construction may exceed the costs of the plan. |
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| 2. |
Why Implement TMPs? |
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Transportation Management Plans which would include the portfolio of strategies the
developer plans to implement to minimize the parking and traffic impact on the
neighborhood. This plan would improve the services provided to residents and
reduce the demand for vehicles; as such a local government would certify the
plan and allow a reduction in the parking required. The plans could be the basis
of the requirement that a development not cause excessive spillover. The
potential benefits are listed below: |
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Reduce parking demand |
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Reduce parking constructed |
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Decrease likelihood of parking spillover into on-street
parking |
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Improve Service to Residents |
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| 3. |
Concepts
to Incorporate Into a TMP |
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Development Wide Transit Passes (i.e. Residential
Eco-Pass) |
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This
is probably the most powerful demand management tool that can truly
improve services to residences. In Santa Clara County, the Residential Eco-Pass allows
developers/managers to purchase annual transit passes for all of their
residents for between $20 and $80 per resident depending on community size
and the location of the development.
Nearly a $700 value, this pass makes transit essentially free for
all residents. At a price of
$60, a manager would spend $6,000 to provide 100 residents a transit pass
for a year. Comparing that to
the cost of a parking space could make Eco-Passes a worthwhile perk to
provide residents if it reduced its need to construct parking.
Other
transit agencies are considering Eco-Pass type services and may offer
other discounted packages which devloper / managers could purchase for
residents. For those of you in Santa Clara County, information on VTA's
Residential Eco-Pass is here. |
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Car Sharing at Housing Developments |
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This is beginning to occur both in San
Francisco and Berkeley. Car sharing can provide multiple households access to a
vehicle. Currently more applicable to urban settings, car sharing can
significantly reducing the parking demand at a particular development.
City CarShare is looking to partner housing developers to do just
that. In lower
density settings, facilitating informal car sharing (potentially through
preferred parking allocation and pricing) can reduce average household
vehicle ownership. For more on City
CarShare, click here. |
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Provide Cab and Dial-A-Ride Vouchers for Emergencies |
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In some locations, transit may work for the journey to work but the quick
point-to-point service of a car is essential in some situations. Providing
residents with an allocation of cab or dial-a-ride vouchers can keep them from
making a significant investment in a vehicle for only occasional use.
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Promotion of Delivery Services |
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Promotion of delivery services including new web-based
delivery services (such as WebVan) can reduce the need for personal vehicle trips and thus
make living with one or no cars more feasible. In affordable housing
developments, computing centers are becoming more common and these services can
be a useful way to expose residents to Internet based services. |
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Transportation Counseling For New Residents |
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Similar to services provided
under the Location Efficient Mortgage program, new residents would be counseled
as to the availability of alternative transportation, local services,
development parking policies, and the cost of vehicle ownership. Thus a
household moving to a new neighborhood can make an informed decision on the
number of vehicles to own. This could be provided by the locality. |
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Other Ideas: |
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Providing Bicycles and Secure Bike Parking |
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Lease Parking for Residents Off-Site |
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| If you've tried or implemented any of these
strategies, please exchange your experiences. If you think these are
a good or bad idea, let us know that too. |
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