Every year, millions of visitors flock to the restaurants, shops, museums, and piers of the Port of San Francisco. They are joined by thousands who work at the Port, in industries ranging from cargo shipping and commercial fishing to circuses. By 2017, an economic boom had brought new prosperity to the Port, but also congested streets and overcrowded transit. The Port was redeveloping many waterfront parcels, converting them from parking to higher and better uses.
To address the challenges created by growing congestion and a shrinking parking supply, the Port engaged Nelson\Nygaard and Seifel Consulting. Patrick Siegman led the project team, while a Principal at Nelson\Nygaard.
The resulting study provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for managing parking and improving transportation options, in ways that reduce motor vehicle trips, congestion, and pollution. The study’s management recommendations propose goals, performance measures, staffing, roles and responsibilities, and implementation steps for creating a Port transportation team.
The parking recommendations address 1200 metered on-street spaces and 20-plus lots and garages, which generate almost 20% of the Port’s annual operating revenues. They include ways to structure fees and parking operator leases to better meet the Port’s goals, routines for assessing parking operators’ performance, and improvements to access and revenue control systems. Extensive transportation demand management recommendations improve options for employees, residents, visitors, and freight handling. These include transit passes, rideshare, carshare, bikeshare, shuttle, and consolidated and off-peak delivery incentives.
The recommendations have helped the Port redevelop multiple parcels, turning parking lots into productive new uses, without having to build costly replacement parking.
Images courtesy of the Port of San Francisco