• On-street parking is important to a broad range of users from long-term residents without off-street parking to business owners and visitors. It’s particularly important to users with accessibility needs.
• While Oakland has many Residential Permit Parking (RPP) zones, many people continue to park in these areas without a pass for free beyond the 1 or 2-hour limit, contributing to on-street parking challenges. There has been limited means for enforcement to eliminate this specific behavior in the RPP zones of Oakland.
• Enforcement ends after 6/7 p.m. throughout Oakland even though demand for spaces remains significant after those times. This results in conflicts between visitor and resident needs. In a number of the residential zones (M, around Halket/Coltart (B) as well as Oakcliffe (E)), the signs suggest enforcement lasts until midnight, but this is not the case.
• South Side has a Parking Enforcement District (PED) around Carson Street that charges for on-street parking from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. The money is used to cover the additional enforcement costs for additional hours, a circulator shuttle, and clean-up program. The South Side PED generated $50,000 in its first 90 days of operation in 2017. Major corridors in Oakland would benefit from a similar district.
• There are also concerns about houses being used as apartments and therefore creating excessive demand for permits far beyond the capacity of the on-street spaces.
• Updates to the Residential Parking Permit Program include a role for neighborhood plans in the creation and management of RPP zones.
• Some residents shared that while enforcement is very important, the RPP zones in Oakland are over-subscribed by the large number of residents.
• Currently, anyone may park in RPP zones in Oakland for up to an hour at any time at no penalty. Charging a price for on-street parking -- and which applies from the moment a vehicle occupies an on-street parking space -- is likely to discourage unpermitted users from parking in RPP zones as frequently.
• Residents expressed a desire that a solution not create further competition for on-street parking in the RPP zones.
• A community member proposal also emerged for the City to raise the resident permit price, with a means-tested reduced price for low- and fixed-income residents, and to have pricing consider the market rate for off-street spaces in Oakland.

• Consider the conversion of all existing RPP zones over to hybrid zones so that visitors are charged for all parking during the periods when the zones are enforced. Research consistently shows that setting a price for on-street parking leads to drivers using off-street parking which also has a price but is generally more convenient and centrally located.
• Create a Parking Enhancement District (PED) similar to what exists around Carson Street in Oakland.
• PED revenue would fund enforcement of RPP zones where there is an overlap, but could also provide funds to support circulator shuttles that are available to residents and address nuisance issues such as trash. The PED could track data and performance metrics (monthly and/or yearly) to evaluate challenges and successes.
• For further exploration:
  • Determine the area for the PED. Recommend considering all of Oakland.
  • Determine priorities for district-based programs that should be funded by the PED after enforcement costs are covered.
    • South Side includes: a circulator shuttle to get people around the district during evening hours, Clean and Green operations (street sweeping, planters, garbage issues).
  • Determine feasibility of the potential creation of an evaluation system to quantify data and statistics about enforcement, pricing, permit types and quantities, parking occupancy levels, etc.
  • Seek to understand if there are opportunities to better manage the large numbers of tenants in houses.
  • Explore how this strategy could dovetail with strategies that focus on accessibility improvements to create a more accessible neighborhood.
  • Depending on where the resulting funds are held, explore if there is a need for a Transportation and Parking Services Manager within Oakland that can work on initiatives like this one, coordinate with the equivalent staff at institutions, and provide support to assist residents in effectively benefiting from the parking permit system.
• Engage with OTMA, residents, and stakeholders related to the proposed hybrid zone conversion and creation of a new PED
• As part of exploring and implementing proposed changes, DOMI and PPA should follow standard practices of conducting a study to quantify the subscription of Oakland RPP zones by residents relative to the total available quantity of on-street parking spaces.
• A parking study or studies should occur at a representative time and follow industry best practices.
• Steps towards exploring, studying, and implementing this proposal should involve community outreach as a key component. Implementation would, at a minimum, need to comply with the relevant municipal code provisions. The code also provides details regarding parking enforcement revenues, enforcement hours, and more.
• Information about car-share programs should be disseminated widely as one alternative to individual residents’ private vehicle usage and parking in Oakland. Car-share is one among multiple Transportation Demand Management (TDM) strategies.
• In the future, consider potential citywide changes to the RPP program that examine the pricing and number of parking permits. Consider possibly allowing alternative pricing structures for residential permits (e.g. adjusted base price of permits; progressive price structure for multiple permits per home; income qualifications for less expensive permits, etc.) that consider parking demand and equity, consider the prices of market substitutes like off-street parking space rentals and car-share usage, and overall aim to encourage alternative travel modes beyond private single occupancy vehicle use.

When to start: 0-2 years

Duration: 6 months

Estimated costs: $ (out of $$$$)

Project lead(s): DOMI (parking study), PPA (conversion of RPP zones to hybrid zones), Mayor’s Office (creation of new PED)

Project partner(s): OTMA, OBID, OPDC

Potential funding source(s): None needed