Local Experts, Residents Weigh in on Newton's Parking Problems

You're driving around Newton Centre, late for an appointment, and every metered parking spot is taken. On the fifth circle around the center lot, you finally spot someone pulling out of a space on Beacon Street. You quickly turn the car around, zoom out the exit, fight through the traffic and into the space before someone else gets there.

Then, you reach into your pocket and find -- no quarters.

Parking in Newton is not always easy. 

While some may say it's a lack of parking supply, local experts at a Newton parking forum last night argued that it's a matter of parking management, not necessarily the number of spaces.

"How we think about parking now is entirely flawed," said Jason Schrieber, a principal at the Nelson/Nygaard transportation planning firm. "It is a management problem with our streets."

Schrieber, who has developed parking plans for a number of U.S. communities including nearby Needham, was one of three panelists at Thursday night's "No Parking?" forum sponsored by the Newton League of Women Voters. 

Throughout his presentation, Schrieber touched on a number of parking topics that focus on how a city plans and manages its parking, and cleared up some "parking myths" many cities and towns follow. Some key points Schrieber made include:

• Supply vs. management - Adding structures like parking garages are not always the best solution. People want to park close to the businesses and in front of shops. If the street parking is managed better, there may not be a need for giant, costly parking structures or added spaces.

• Communities should embrace shared parking -  Each business should not have its own parking supply. Instead, create more central parking locations and better pedestrian access to encourage people to park once and walk to all the places they need to go.

• Pricing creates turnover in the parking spaces - Time limits on spaces should not be used for turnover. Instead, create higher price points for the prime parking locations, and lower prices (incentives) for parking spaces that are a little farther away.

• Parking should be about convenience, not supply - Cities and towns should pay attention how people have to get to/from parking. Intersections should be easier to navigate and cross for cars and pedestrians. Also, parking areas should be clearly marked and easy to get to.

• Use meter revenues to benefit the business district/neighborhood - Parking pricing does not necessarily hurt businesses, it's making sure the parking is managed well so there is proper turnover and customers do not have a problem finding parking. Businesses and neighborhoods should benefit directly from the meters on their streets or the permits sold for their neighborhood street parking.

During the forum, Schrieber was joined by Newton Director of Planning and Development Candace Havens, who went over many of Newton's current parking policies and rules.

Havens noted that the city is working on better parking management and zoning, including parking studies in both Newtonville and Newton Centre.

Specifically, the city is looking to "rationalize" the parking plans in Newtonville with a full parking plan. In Newton Centre, the city is considering a parking garage off Cypress Street.

While it was made clear that parking garages are not always the best option for a city, Havens said the city will conduct a thorough parking study before making any decisions on a potential parking garage.

The Cypress Street lot is currently testing a payment system that has the option of using credit cards or different types of cash, the only one in the city. Soon, , as Ald. Ted Hess-Mahan has recommended the city research parking meter payment systems that use smart phones.

Matt Cuddy, chair of the Transportation Advisory Committee's Parking Subcommittee, was the third panelist for the evening. Cuddy reiterated many of Schreiber's points on a local level, noting that Newton has issues with how its parking is managed throughout the city.

Most of Cuddy's points include items :

• Incentives for parking - In Newtonville, for example, all metered parking is the same price, regardless of how far away the spot is from the main business district. The city should look at varying the price depending on the parking location.

• Zoning/land use rules - Right now, the city land use and zoning ordinances require a certain number of spaces for certain types of businesses. Some restaurants, for example, cannot add more tables because they are limited to the number of parking spots assigned to their business. The city should work on changing this and instead, focus on better parking management.

• Parking management in the city - Currently there are a number of different groups and departments that handle city parking. Ideally, there would be one system city-wide and under a specific parking manager, rather than several departments.

• Parking for commuters - The city needs to look at better ways to provide or handle parking for commuters, particularly people coming to Newton to use public transportation.

As for working out costs related to new parking policies, both Cuddy and Schrieber agreed that if parking in the city is managed well, the municipality and the businesses will profit.

"Parking management pays for itself," Cuddy said. "It's just about setting a price that's necessary to maintain some availability. If you don't have demand, you don't need to price it. If you do have a problem, jack up the price and spend money on enforcement."

For more information from the parking forum, the presentation will eventually be available on the Newton League of Women Voters website and .