1-1

The Future of Parking in Broward County
A guide for the development of a County Parking Policy

A report to the Transportation Planning and Air Quality Divisions of the Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection

November 2001

The Center for Creating the Future, Inc.
www.creatingthefuture.org

Also viewable on the Internet at www.oocities.org/futureofparking

Before you begin – a word about the format.
One unique feature of this report is that, as befits an organization looking to create the future, it has been posted on an Internet site as it has been produced and comments have been welcomed as we have proceeded. We feel comments have greater value while the study is being conducted rather than after it’s completed.

Further, we do not consider that turning over a finished product completes our work. Indeed, we believe that current technology will allow this type of report to go on into the future, as needed. We intend to maintain the report on a web site together with all follow-on comments -- and perhaps even our responses to them – for an indefinite period. Should Broward County create, as we suggest, a Parking Information Network, then this report could be maintained on that web site. Thus, the report could remain readily available to interested parties electronically, in addition to sitting on a shelf. Even then a hard copy could be made available by downloading rather than reprinting, and it would have up-to-date comments and changes.
A second unique feature is that the report will be available in CD format, allowing random access to specific portions in an audio visual presentation. This format is also easily reproduced, if there is a need.

Finally, even the written hard copy of the report is being presented in a format that is similar to the web site presentation: text along one side, pictures adjacent, and references to back-up data next to the text. (Eventually, when most materials are presented on a screen, readers will return to the vertical scroll format of ancient times. The more things change, the more they change, but also remain the same.)

Thank you,

Jack Latona
Steve McCrea

This report has been researched, written, photographed, videoed, typed and produced by Jack Latona and Steve McCrea of The Center for Creating the Future, Inc. Many people inspired and assisted in many ways and we thank them all but especially Molly Hughes, Bruce Wilson, Mike Sherman, Enrique R. Zelaya, Kathy Chagnard, Ossama Al-Aschkar, Bill Leonard, Daniela Banu and Cindy Corbett-Elder (Department of Planning and Environmental Protection), Robert Baldwin (Town Manager, Lauderdale by the Sea), Paul Carpenter (Downtown Fort Lauderdale TMA), Doug Gottshall and John Hoelzle (City of Fort Lauderdale), Ed Davis, and Patrick Rutter (advisor to City of Weston).

None of these people should, however, be held responsible for any of our mistakes or omissions.

Executive Summary

Introduction

Broward County’s Division of Transportation Planning asked the Center for Creating the Future, Inc., to look at the future of parking issues in Broward County, including a study of current parking conditions in Broward County, the impact of these conditions on drivers and the environment, options for responses to anticipated parking conditions, and recommendations.

The Center has presented this report in an innovative fashion, maintaining its work on an on-going basis on its web site, www.creatingthefuture.org, and publishing it on a compact disk as well as in print format. The print format has been designed to approximate a web site in its appearance, with many pictures.

Parking presents more issues than just “Do we have enough places to park?” In addition to the objective reality of sufficient spaces, perceptions of sufficiency, ease of access and environmental impact must also be considered. Further, while we have focused on parking, parking issues are inextricably linked with traffic issues and, to that extent, we have addressed that link. Simply put, if parking is plentiful, more people will drive; if parking is difficult, fewer people will drive (or they will go elsewhere). Put another way, the better the parking, the more likely traffic will increase: if you build more parking facilities, just as if you build more roads, they will come. Restricting parking, coupled with providing options to driving (e.g., remote parking and shuttles or more and better public transportation) will reduce demand for parking.

Presently, there is not an objective shortage of parking in Broward County except for certain peak times at popular commercial locations and in the area surrounding the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale.

There is, however, a perception of a parking shortage, resulting from the rapid development of certain areas, and a lack of adequate information about parking locations. Also, drivers, accustomed to surface parking, are reluctant to use parking ramps, especially the higher floors of those ramps.   Stress on many drivers results from these conditions.

This report also emphasizes the environmental damage resulting from too many cars driving around, looking for the perfect parking space. Methods for reducing this environmental damage are presented. The study concludes that demand for parking is most likely to increase as the population increases. It presents a wide variety of options in response to those increased demands ranging from providing better information about parking options, to diversion of drivers to public transportation or remove parking and shuttles into impacted areas.

Providing more parking downtown will increase traffic and congestion, but that gives all the more reason for public policy makers to maximize the use of existing spaces rather than just allowing more spaces to be built.

The Center recommends creation of a Parking Information Network which would provide local officials, developers and individuals with more information and more accessible information about parking options.

A comment about the role of public policy in the evolution of parking: “Public policy today determines the environment of 2010 and beyond.” We live today with the restrictions and rules decided at least 10 years ago.   Each local government has standards that impose requirements for parking, ranging from upper-end suburban cities where every car is required to be in a garage, to Fort Lauderdale, where there is no requirement for parking in the downtown. If asked, most residents of Fort Lauderdale would probably be surprised that their city does not require parking for new buildings downtown, but this is not as dramatic as it sounds. A developer wouldn’t be able to get financing or tenants if there were no parking. The market, not the city, sets the amount of parking needed. The recommendations in this report can be put in place at the discretion of policymakers to diminish the negative impacts of additional parking that will be added in the coming years.

Conclusion

The Center emphasizes that parking solutions require less capital and shorter lead times than other traffic-related actions and can be adopted as needed. However, since we can anticipate these future needs, we have the opportunity to act before they become critical and can become even better able to anticipate the future by developing better information.

Most urban planners know that we need to pursue “smart growth” in order to balance pressures for development with citizen desires for low-density or no development. We should seek “Smart Parking” policies to provide the greatest service to the community with the least damage to the environment.

Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary            3

2. Introduction and Overview of Present Conditions
a) - Availability: Is there enough parking?         9
b) - Access: How easy is it to park?     12
c) - Perceptions: Why is parking stressful?    13
d) - Environmental impacts of parking     15

3. The Future of Parking in Broward County
(Most Likely Outcomes)
Refining our forecasts        16
Impact of technology        17
Market clearing         17

4. Alternatives (Possible Outcomes)
Survey        19
Possible Actions       19
Parking Information Sources     (which are available now)     20

5. Creating the Future of Parking in Broward County (Recommendations)
Better Data         21
Parking Information Network (PIN)   22
A Case Study: The Las Olas Art Fair   25
Remote Parking       25
Staggered Hours       27
Live-Work Arrangements     27
Price Mechanisms      27
Valet Parking       28
Robotic Parking       28
Mixed Surface Lots      29
Cross-easements       29
Fine-tuning         31
Trip Rates        31
Car Sharing        32
Taxis         32
On-street Parking       33
Parking Meters       34
Traffic Guidance       35
GPS          35
Bicycles        36

6. Conclusions      37

Background Materials      41
Additional photos are available on the web site:
www.oocities.org/futureofparking. Send your
comments to: crefut@bellsouth.net or futureofparking@yahoo.com.

Introduction

The Transportation Planning and Air Quality Divisions of Broward County's Department of Planning and Environmental Protection asked The Center for Creating the Future, Inc., to prepare this report on the future of parking in the County. The County is concerned not just about the transportation aspects of parking but the environmental impacts as well.

The Center, founded in January 2001 and dedicated to the proposition that we can and should create our future and not just wait for it, saw this study as an opportunity to bring a number of concepts to technicians, policy makers and the informed general public. We also took the opportunity to conduct the research and present the results in an innovative way. First, we have put our research on our web site as it was done, so that any interested party could comment immediately and not have to wait until the study was completed. Second, we are presenting the report on a computer disc as well as in the customary printed form and the printed reports visually resemble a web site as much as possible. Finally, the report is structured to allow the County or other interested parties to continue the process, since change, even in an apparently mundane topic as parking, is continuous.

1. Overview of present issues

Conventionally, a parking study involves taking a discrete area, analyzing the zoning uses and densities and multiplying by a formula or formulas to arrive at an estimated need for parking. An example is the Beach Study completed in 2000 for the City of Fort Lauderdale by Walker Parking Consultants, which used a growth rate of 2.88% to predict an estimated shortfall of 758 parking spaces during the busiest season by 2005 (growing to a deficit of 2,209 spaces by 2020).

This study will go well beyond that. This study will address parking issues throughout Broward County and, while urban areas with intense commercial uses will receive the most attention, suburban commercial areas and certain residential parking issues will be addressed.

While the basic issue is, is there enough parking and, if not, what can be done about it, we will also address the negative environmental impacts of parking: emissions resulting from searching for parking spaces inside and outside ramps and the loss of carbon dioxide-oxygen exchange as more grass is paved over.

Since this is a parking study, we assume that, as the County's population increases, the demand for parking will increase. This is not strictly linear, i.e. one person does not equal one car equals X residential and job-related parking spaces. It requires, at the very least, age and income analysis as well as marketing trends analysis. For example -- just two of the many possible examples -- will the trend of more people eating more meals outside the home continue or decline as we age?   The Center forecasts dramatic 10-to-20-year increases in the longevity of the US population over the next 30 to 50 years, so will we drive more (more free time) or less (reduced skills)? Probably both: with more people over the age of 75, virtually all will want to remain mobile. Some of us will require more shuttles and others will continue to drive (using anti-aging nutrients to retain our faculties).

There are several trends that could lead to reduced demand for parking spaces: more reliance on public transportation, more telecommuting, and more internet and telephone shopping. As the analysis and the recommendations will demonstrate, PARKING SOLUTIONS ARE MUCH LESS CAPITAL INTENSE AND HAVE MUCH SHORTER IMPLEMENTATION TIMES THAN RELATED TRAFFIC-ISSUE SOLUTIONS. Necessary changes can be made incrementally with much less risk of time and capital. (THIS IS A KEY POINT OF THIS STUDY. Key points will be highlighted and numbered. This is Key Point 1.)

Finally, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 have raised another issue which was not foreseen in the original scope of this study. Security should, however, be addressed as the extent of the risk becomes clarified. A look back at the history of similar events shows that present responses are almost certainly overly cautious, but nonetheless, the issue should be addressed at a later time.

We have, to the extent possible, made an effort to limit this study to parking issues and not slide into traffic issues. In fact, the separation is not a clear or simple one. At a very basic supply-demand level, more and cheaper parking will attract more cars, creating more traffic. Conversely, limited, expensive parking will discourage drivers and limit traffic.

Many analyses of traffic problems look to parking restrictions as a traffic control mechanism. (See Alan Durning’s article.)   In downtown San Francisco, creation of new parking spaces is strictly limited in an effort to deflect people to public transportation.

Further, poor parking information can cause drivers to spend time and road space looking for parking spaces, thus increasing traffic volume. Occasionally, cars back up entering crowded parking facilities, either at ramps or surface lots, can actually block road traffic.

This report will not expand into traffic issues, but the reader should keep in mind that improving parking conditions will improve traffic conditions.

2. Methods

We have followed many paths in our research, our analysis, and our presentation. The Center considers it essential that such studies be accessible to the informed general public as well as technicians and experienced policy makers. A thick stack of paper simply will not be read. Our report is meant to be seen and the mounds of data available will be accessible but not included. The information presented will be what is necessary to begin developing a plan for the future. That plan can begin to be implemented at once, in six months, or two years. As the specific recommendations will make clear, some should begin sooner rather than later, that is, to CREATE THE FUTURE OF PARKING NOW RATHER THAN WAITING FOR IT. (Key Point 2.)

Each reader should be able to reach his or her own conclusions from the presentation as to the timing of the recommendations.

Present Parking Conditions in Broward County

We will address four elements regarding present parking conditions in Broward County:

a) Availability: Is there enough parking?

b) Access: How easy is it to park?

c) Perceptions: Why is parking stressful?

d) Environmental impacts of parking

a) Is there enough parking in Broward County?

There are some calculations about adequacy of parking in Broward County, but certainly nothing approaching completeness. Since it would be a number which changed daily, as new spaces are developed and old spaces put to other uses, without constant updating, even a 99% accurate number (unlikely) would quickly become out of date.
(A rough estimate of parking available in 17 garages for Downtown Fort Lauderdale is 10,688 spaces. Details of this estimate are given on the Future of Parking web site at www.oocities.org/futureofparking/pin.html.) In addition, the inventory would need to be matched with demand requirements, an even more elusive target (see page 19 for a case study of two office buildings, where the ratio of employees to parking spaces approaches 1.25-to-1, one of the highest ratios in Broward County). To some degree, demand and utilization are a function of availability. The easier it is to park, the less likely we are to consider alternatives such as walking, public transportation or staying put.

Extensive observations and interviews, while necessarily anecdotal, have provided evidence which indicates there is no actual shortage of parking spaces in Broward County. (The perception of shortages will be addressed below.) This can be checked by observation and experience. For example, viewing the area thought to be in the most critical condition, downtown Fort Lauderdale, from the top floor of any tall building will reveal, at any given time, significant numbers of empty spaces. Similarly, on a tour of downtown, one will only occasionally encounter a "Lot Full" sign.

There are exceptions. In bad weather, indoor parking can reach capacity as more people wish to park indoors and those already in, choose to stay in. The area around the Broward County Courthouse also experiences overloads in the morning hours as lawyers, litigants and jurors all attempt to find nearby spaces at the same time. Recent security measures have exacerbated this situation. Prior to that, the switch to selecting jurors from the list of licensed drivers rather than from the list of registered voters increased the size of the jury pools necessary to fill juries. More pre-screening (already suggested to County parking officials by The Center) may improve this situation.

People's expectations that a parking space should be in the very closest proximity to their destination, adds to the Courthouse problem and the concomitant morning congestion.

There is considerable expansion of parking facilities on the north side of the New River, at the Bank of America building, the first Union Building and One River Plaza.    Another peak load circumstance in the downtown is the Florida Atlantic University/Broward Community College Higher Education Complex at Las Olas and Southeast Third Avenue. That problem is compounded by student and faculty expectations that parking should not only be contiguous to the buildings but free as well. Utilization of the top floor of the City Park garage by FAU and BCC has improved this situation considerably.

Peak-Hour Shortages

Elsewhere in Broward County, parking shortages are almost entirely peak-hour problems, usually resulting from demand that exceeds the conventional parking formulas. One or more exceptionally popular restaurants or bars can throw off the conventional calculations for a shopping center by a wide margin. Market clearing and the usual ebb and flow of consumer choices will usually handle these situations: that is, either because of the parking difficulties or just the fickleness of popular taste, the "crisis" will pass. Some cities, such as Weston, have responded by changing their formulas. (A complete set of parking ordinances for Broward County and its municipalities can be accessed by sending an e-mail message to Rosalia Bunge (rbunge@co.broward.fl.us) at Broward County's Department of Planning and Environmental Protection.)

Private-sector strategies can include providing valet parking at peak times, which increases both customer satisfaction and parking capacity and raising prices. (A fuller discussion of pricing strategies will be found below). Fort Lauderdale Beach, for example has less intense parking problems than a few years ago, when it seemed that “everyone” had to go to Beach Place.

Other commercial situations, such as warehouses and office parks, seem to be satisfactorily served by present formulas. The City of Weston has added an innovative approach to these uses by tailoring the parking requirements of new office park developments to the actual intended use. For example, a trans-shipping facility with a small number of employees and no visiting customers will be required to make fewer spaces than an electronics assembly facility or telemarketing operation.

Opportunities to park in residential developments also seem to be adequate at this time, with a few serious exceptions. When the resident mix of a multi-unit complex changes, severe problems can result. Most of the condominiums built in the 1970s in Broward County were designed for retirees who rarely had more than one vehicle. Those unit owners are now being replaced by much younger couples, in most of which both partners work. Further, as housing costs rise, apartments which were previously rented to one person and one car are now being occupied by two working roommates. Given the economic status of these projects, most physical solutions are not financially feasible, for example, tearing down some buildings to create parking space or acquiring adjacent properties for more parking. The cost squeeze in these situations can be severe and while it is not a public obligation, local governments need to be aware and prepared to assist with zoning changes and in other ways.

There are a few other special peak-hour situations such as churches and various special events where alternatives to supplying more parking, discussed below, should be considered.

To sum up, there is no overall parking shortage, much less a parking crisis, in Broward County in terms of availability of parking spaces. That, however, is not the whole story. Access to parking is an important component of any parking analysis. How can we make parking easier for people?

b) Access: How easy it is to park?

Improving access to parking, making it easier to park, increases the perception of availability of parking and reduces the stress of parking. (Key Point 3.)

Presently, people feel there are fewer parking spaces than there actually are because they are not aware of them or feel they are difficult to find or park in.

The problem surfaces in different ways for different people. Tourists may be completely unaware of parking locations, occasional visitors unaware of all the possibilities and frequent parkers unaware of alternatives to their accustomed parking spot. Once at the parking garage or area, signage or lighting may be inadequate, making the parking experience an unpleasant one.

Special events, which change traffic patterns, such as a Las Olas Art Fair or the Air and Sea Show, compound access to parking dramatically , but they also give us examples of how to deal with even everyday parking problems.

First, information for the public, from both governmental and private sources, should be plentiful and understandable. As a driver approaches his or her destination, information should be continuously available. Even within a parking structure, signage is important, both its visual clarity and its understandability. As people know more and their experiences get better, the time necessary to park will decrease, as will stress. Those responsible should thoroughly test their signs for these factors.

Signs are proliferating throughout our environment. As we increase information about parking access, it must be done in an esthetically pleasing fashion. It should also be predictable, that is, in the same locations as testing shows most enhances readability. Absorbing the information should distract drivers as little as possible, while being effective.

In Europe, much effort goes into making parking "invisible", concealing parking facilities to the greatest degree possible. Where it is essential to preserve the historical and esthetic appeal of an area, this is appropriate. Too often, however, these suggestions come from people who are merely hostile to automobiles. Most Americans do not share these feelings.

The Aesthetics of Parking

Parking facilities should be as attractive as any other part of our visual environment but they needn't be invisible. U.S. drivers like to see where their car is and is going to be. (Key Point 4.) That factor should not be ignored by planners and urban designers.

c) Perceptions: Why is parking stressful?

The 1990 Census put Fort Lauderdale’s population at 149,377 and in 2000 the city stood at 152,397. The County’s population is over ten times that, 1,623,018 (2000). In 1970, it was only 620,100, just before the take-off. Further, while Fort Lauderdale has long been the County seat, its downtown and beach did not begin to take off until the mid-1990s. Similarly, suburban communities have only recently jumped not only in residential population (Weston, Sunrise, Plantation, Coral Springs), but in commercial development. As a result, all but the most recent arrivals remember when they could park “anywhere” with no hassle and virtually no charge. They have forgotten that there was little or nothing to do when they got there. The infrastructure of downtown Fort Lauderdale, the government office buildings such as the Federal Courthouse, the State of Florida Office Building, were built in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s but the private sector response did not kick in until the early ‘90s, fueled to a significant degree by the multiple offshoots of the entrepreneurial energy of Wayne Huizenga and his associates. All of a sudden, after 20 years of effort downtown was an “overnight success.” Street parking or the first floor or two of a parking garage was not enough to park everyone, so a garage building boom in Fort Lauderdale has given the city more than ten garages with more than 4 levels.

What are acceptable parking conditions?

A parking space on the fourth floor of a parking garage underneath or adjacent to one’s office building for a monthly fee of $70 (a bargain in New York and an ecstatic circumstance even in Miami) is considered an insuperable burden in Broward County. On Fort Lauderdale beach, after the (forced) departure of Spring Break in 1985 and 1986, there was an idyllic period beginning in the early 1990s when redevelopment was as yet undiscovered. One had the feeling of having the beach to oneself. When the rest of South Florida and the world discovered our paradise, things changed. The “crisis” came with the opening of Beach Place, a multi-story complex of shops and restaurants attached to a time-share hotel. “Everyone” not only had to go there, they had to park there, not a block away. Now that the initial excitement has calmed down and people have gotten more savvy, traffic and parking have subsided to the level of “merely very crowded” during the peak of the tourist season.

Similarly, as suburban communities like Weston and Coral Springs grew, commercial development moving to the rhythms of natural economic patterns did not always keep up. That, plus the occasional hyperpopularity of a particular bar, restaurant or shop, would lead to a parking “crisis.” Eventually, the market place and individuals responded to these conditions: more parking is created, more restaurants are opened in other areas, and people change their behavior, either consciously or unconsciously. If a parking or traffic “crisis” continues at a particular location, it means people want to go there and will pay the price in time and stress. Local governments can only do so much about these perceptions, but there are several relatively easy steps which can be taken in the near term to ameliorate these problems. They will be set forth in our recommendations. It is difficult to quantify the stress levels caused by parking problems, but they do have social and individual health consequences and should not be brushed off.

d) Environmental impacts of parking

Most people do not consider parking as an environmental issue, but in fact it is.

In congested downtown areas, it is easiest to see: cars driving around looking for a place to park add to the amount of air pollution. Within parking structures, where exhausts are trapped, is a further intensification of the problem. Exhaust fans or open structures reduce the levels inside the structures by spreading pollutants to the outside, but this only adds to ambient pollution levels. Air quality regulators are aware of this and limit the amount of exhaust pollution allowed within designated areas and increased development can be halted if levels are exceeded (see the web page about the Parking Facility License).

Air Quality

Broward County is presently regarded as having adequate air quality (after having been under EPA restrictions that required vehicle emissions to be checked annually). Our air quality is constantly being monitored and we must be continuously aware of the impact of automobile generated pollution on our air quality and quality of life.

The issue is not limited to densely developed urban areas. Large suburban parking lots can also be large generators of auto exhaust as people search for parking spaces. Furthermore, the instinctive response to a shortage of parking, even if only at a few peak periods, is to require paving over more land for more parking. This not only fails to reduce pollution, it reduces air quality by eliminating vegetation which cleans our air and exchanges carbon dioxide for oxygen. Also, while we now require storm water runoff to be contained on site at parking lots, if the water does not filter back into the aquifer, it will either require expensive treatment or dump pollutants into our waterways.

The Future of Parking in Broward County
(Most Likely Outcomes)
The easiest projection to make of any future trend is a straight line following existing data. In the case of parking needs in Broward County, or almost anywhere, the easiest forecast would be to take present spaces -- exact number unknown -- and multiply by the anticipated increase in the population. It then becomes a simple matter to predict that Broward County will need to provide "more" parking spaces, both public and private, tied to population forecasts. A more conservative forecast would be "much more" parking, the outer limit would be "a whole lot more." This is not just an attempt at humor, it is a reductio ad absurdum of present parking planning: build more of the same as demand requires.

Refining our forecasts

This model falls well short of what is possible. First, population numbers can be refined. Driving, working, education, shopping, entertaining are some of the constituent elements of parking demand that can be made much more precise by demographic analysis: age and income, information which is easily accessible, can reduce or increase the forecast of anticipated drivers and their likely destinations. Young children need to be driven to school, older children will in many cases drive themselves. Age and income figures, properly analyzed, can give us reasonably reliable figures on shopping, dining out, employment and so forth. Private sector marketing analyses do this all the time. Knowing the answer to these questions can help us to refine our forecasts, reducing the chance of over- or under-reaction. Fortunately, parking changes require a relatively short-term turnaround, and corrections can be relatively easily made.

In addition to refining our forecasts, there are plausible alternatives that could lead to a need for less parking than a simple or even complex demographic forecast would indicate.

Transportation planners for many years have been urging more reliance on public transportation and this message is beginning to influence decision makers. Investment in Tri-Rail has been increased. Expansion of Miami-Dade's MetroRail into Broward County, the Community Bus program in various municipalities, the Waterbus waterways transportation program and expansion of conventional bus service, with more routes, longer hours of service and shorter intervals between buses are all underway. Historically, these changes have lagged population increases, but that is beginning to change, with public transportation ridership showing greater increases, in some circumstances, than the population. While this is not the place to discuss the cost-effectiveness of such programs, there is no doubt that greater availability, improved access, better information, and momentum* will increase ridership and reduce demand for parking.

Impact of technology

Other trends, difficult to quantify, will also have some impact. More people are doing some or all of their work at home. As the technologies which facilitate working at or near home become better and more familiar, such as wireless Internet access, voice recognition for email and teleconferencing, we can expect these trends to reduce traffic and parking demand.

Similarly, while the bursting of the dot-com bubble has put a hold on shop-at-home trends, there is no doubt that these programs will resume and to a greatly expanded audience as convenience, product quality and service improve. Publix, for example, is undertaking an Internet grocery shopping service. While the timing of widespread acceptance of this service is uncertain, it is not difficult to imagine a virtual shopping experience: going down aisles, looking at shelves, making selections and then having them delivered to a specially designed food-port at one's home or apartment. We can see this future; it's the timing that's unclear. When it happens, parking demand will be reduced. A further extension of this notion: as the quality of prepared foods continues to increase as it has been, another reason to leave home or park at a store or restaurant on the way home will be eliminated. This will not happen all of a sudden, but it is happening now.   Its impact is hard to measure, but this part of the future is beginning to happen now.

Market clearing

Finally, there is the effect of people's daily choices: If it gets too bad, they just won't do it. If the experience of parking is too stressful, expensive or difficult, people won't park there and they will go somewhere else. (Key Point 5.) It is easy to misunderstand this phenomenon, known to economists as market clearing. It is part process, part explanation, part solution. Some simple examples: we will not reach actual gridlock; people will go elsewhere. We will not run out of oil: we will switch to substitutes or change our behavior.

We often hear people say that some location in Broward County has reached its traffic or parking limit. Perhaps. For example, traffic in Miami is worse, yet tolerated. There are parking facilities in Miami which have eight or more levels of parking, all full. There is obviously some attraction in Miami, either jobs, business opportunities, entertainment, or whatever, that continues to pull different people, at different times, into Miami in spite of the congestion. Also, it is clear, at least anecdotally, that there are people who don't go to Miami because of the congestion who would go, or perhaps so at off peak times, if there was less congestion. Each location, of course, will have a different degree of "magnetism."

In any case, market-clearing will to some degree suppress demand if conditions are "below acceptable" to certain individuals.

Alternatives (Possible Outcomes)
The relationship between Parking and Congestion is close: If drivers know that there is a parking space waiting for them, they will try to drive to work. Congestion takes place because drivers are arriving at or near the traditional beginning of the office work day (9 a.m.).
Flextime, an arrangement where arrival times are staggered, is used in other metropolitan areas to reduce the peak congestion. A survey was conducted as part of this study to determine the level of support for flexible arrival times. Past surveys have indicated that managers are less enthusiastic than their employees are about later start times.
The survey included a question that specifically mentioned e-mail, which has become more widespread. This survey is believed to be the first to ask about answering e-mail from a home computer.    The survey was sent to the Stiles Buildings 350 and 450 East Las Olas and 800 copies were distributed, thanks to assistance and coordination by Judy Carter, the building manager.

The Question

Are you able to do some of your work at home, perhaps answering email before you commute to work after the rush hour? The responses are probably more from people who are advocates of flex-time work schedules. We expect that the results will fall to about 20 in 100 in support of flex time.
The critical impediments mentioned in the report are
“My boss wants me in the office at 9 a.m.”
“The e-mail system does not allow me to view the email from home.”
Possible actions
An education campaign could be started, drawing on the experience of companies in Southern California, where thousands of workers arrive earlier or later and avoid the rush hour.
Creating an email account on a web-based email system, such as Yahoo.com or hotmail.com, allows the workers to check e-mail from home. Perhaps a worker who arrives early to work can check the email for other workers and forward e-mail messages to the “later-arriving” workers to work on before they come to the office.