CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Approve the staff recommendation to transition all commuter parking to daily fee and eliminate the quarterly permit program
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Jennifer Louden, Deputy Director
BOARD/COMMISSION REVIEW:
N/A
BACKGROUND:
Prior to 2020, the City's commuter parking programs, comprised of a combination of renewable quarterly permits and daily fee spaces, were not efficiently meeting the needs of the commuter population. This was demonstrated by years-long waitlists for quarterly permits for the Naperville Station, combined with higher utilization of daily fee spaces than permit spaces. A Commuter Parking and Access Work Plan was developed during 2019 to address operational issues and abuses in the City's legacy parking programs. The work plan was developed under the assumption that demand for commuter parking would remain high. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted work and commuting patterns, leading to historic low levels of commuter activity, and creating a need to reevaluate the work plan.
During 2021, commuting activity slowly increased but uncertainty remained surrounding the long-term impact of the pandemic on commuting patterns. On August 17, 2021, the City Council approved two principles to guide continued improvements to commuter parking and access that would build off the accomplishments of the 2019 plan while providing flexibility and adaptability as new commuting patterns emerge:
1. Principle 1: The City will provide commuter parking programs that maximize the use of the existing total parking supply by providing flexible parking options and fair privileges to all commuters.
2. Principle 2: The City will maintain a multi-modal approach to accessing the Naperville and Route 59 Metra stations.
Since that time, the following actions have been completed in support of the principles:
1. The Parkview Lot was converted to daily fee to in...
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