name of presentation options to account for car share programs in parking standards joshua...

Name of Presentation

Options to Account for Car Share Programs in Parking Standards

Joshua Engel-Yan, Senior Advisor, Metrolinx

Dylan Passmore, Transportation Planner, IBI Group

November 17, 2009

Options to Account for Car Share Programs in Parking StandardsApril 10, 2023

IBI GroupACT Conference – 2009, Toronto 2

Outline

1. The Toronto Context

2. Car sharing and parking demand

3. Options: What are other municipalities doing?

4. Options: What is the perspective of car share operators?

5. Options: Is there empirical evidence?

6. Recommendations

7. Implementation Considerations



The Toronto Context – Nearly 900 car share vehicles



The Toronto Context

Successful car sharing operating in central Toronto (Autoshare and Zipcar)

City of Toronto zoning bylaw consolidation Interest in parking requirements that

respond better to local context Current ad hoc approach to parking

adjustments for car sharing

•Is a reduction in the parking requirement justified for developments that provide dedicated car share parking spaces?

•What is an appropriate parking reduction ratio and implementation approach?



Car Sharing and Parking Demand

VehiclesReduced

% members who give up car

Members per car share vehicle

- 1)( x=

Linking Car Sharing and Parking Demand



Car Sharing and Parking Demand (cont’d)

Auto Ownership

Vancouver: 28% of its members gave up a primary or secondary vehicle

reduction ratio of 4.0 vehicles per car share vehicle* 57% deferred purchasing a vehicle

San Francisco: 24% of its members gave up a primary or secondary vehicle


* These ratios do not factor those who defer from purchasing another vehicle.



Car Sharing and Parking Demand (cont’d)

Auto Ownership

Toronto [based on AutoShare survey]: 15% of its members gave up a primary or secondary vehicle


North American average: 20% give up a vehicle after joining a car share organization


* These ratios do not factor those who defer from purchasing another vehicle.



What are other municipalities doing?

Some Cities Have Already Instituted Reductions to Residential Requirements

Vancouver:3:1 reductionLimit 1 space per 60 units

Seattle:1:1 reductionLesser of 3:1 or 15% for large

developments

San Francisco:Require 1 space / 200 units Require 1 space where ≥ 50 unitsMin reductions case-by-case

Toronto:Case by case… from 0 to 10:1

reduction



What is the perspective of car share operators?

Developers focus on short-term benefits (e.g. construction costs or LEED certification)

Developers prefer to limit access to residents only, thus compromising long-term financial viability of vehicle

Marketing critical to success of building vehicle, but harder with a retrofit

Securing dedicated parking a perpetual challenge Very interested in reserved on-street spaces Developers now approaching them – speculation it is

due to parking maximums More potential with apartment buildings



Is there empirical evidence?

Compare auto ownership in buildings with dedicated car share vehicles against buildings without.

5 condo sites chosen Have had a car share

vehicle for at least 1 year Equal Zipcar and

Autoshare buildings No co-op or mixed use

buildings (since no unit listings)

Where possible, nearby control sites with similar assessed value per unit

Mail out survey conducted, with option to complete online



Is there empirical evidence?



Is there empirical evidence? (cont’d)

Survey Responses

248 surveys completed (25% response rate)

37 car share members responded Results consistent with North

American averages:• 29% of members gave up owning a vehicle

after joining• 55% of members deferred purchasing 1st or

2nd vehicle Expected lower ownership rate at

surveyed sites:

Control condo sites: 1.07/unit (N=834)vs.

Surveyed condo sites: 0.53/unit (N=167)



Is there empirical evidence? (cont’d)

Linear Regression Model

2 stable models:• Assessed value per unit• Walkscore• Presence of dedicated

car share vehicles (model 1)

• # of dedicated car share vehicles (model 2)

Presence of dedicated car share vehicles within building does appear to have a small but significant impact on

auto ownership.



Recommendations

For apartments and condos, reduce the minimum parking requirement by up to 4 parking spaces for each dedicated car share stall.

Limit at the greater of:■ 4 * (Total # of units / 60), rounded down to the nearest whole

number; or

■ 1 space.



Recommendations (cont’d)

SIZE OFDEVELOPMENT (# OF UNITS)= REQUIRED PARKING

MAXIMUM ALLOWABLEREDUCTION IN THE MINIMUM REQUIRED PARKING

CAR SHARE SPACESREQUIRED TOACHIEVE THISREDUCTION

Less than 30 1 1

30 – 44 2 1

45 – 59 3 1

60 – 74 4 1

75 – 89 5 2

90 – 104 6 2

105 - 119 7 2

375 25 7



Recommendations (cont’d)

Why this 4:1 ratio?■ Consistent with typical effects of car sharing on ownership

■ Consistent with existing practice

■ Supported by regression

Why this limit on the ratio?■ Tied to # of units

■ Limit tied to 60 unit increments, matching Vancouver experience

Why don’t nearby car share vehicles count?■ Regression suggests insignificant

■ Car share provision ubiquitous in urban area

■ Hard to enforce off-site conditions over long-term



Implementation Considerations

Securing the agreement Apartments an issue

Location and design Visible & public access locations critical, verify at site plan approval

stage

Marketing Secure pool of memberships, at least 1 for each unit

Conversion of spaces over time Ensure spaces can’t be sold off Zoning could specify ratio for conversion to visitor and occupant parking

By-law conformance over time No reason to suspect all car sharing services will flop, but specific sites

may not work Only way to absolutely guarantee conformance of all sites in the long

run is to take San Francisco approach



Thank you!

Joshua Engel-Yan

Senior Advisor, Policy and Planning

Metrolinx

20 Bay St, Suite 901

Toronto, ON M5J 2N8

416.874.5940

[email protected]

Dylan Passmore

Transportation Planner

IBI Group

5th Floor- 230 Richmond St W

Toronto, ON M5V 1V6

416.596.1930 ext. 407

[email protected]

Full Report:www.toronto.ca/zoning/parking1.htm

name of presentation options to account for car share programs in parking standards joshua...

Documents

car share programs

car share members

car members

car sharing

dedicated car share

toronto context successful

parking demand slide

parking requirements