Park Burlington is please to share our annual State of the System Report. The FY2018 report provides an update on the progress that the Burlington Business Association and Department of Public Works have made on fulfilling the goals laid out in the Downtown Parking and Transportation Management Plan.
Overall the parking situation in Burlington is positive. We know that parking is emotional but parking is available. The answer, we firmly believe, is more data to better inform policy.
The report covers parking data from 2015 to mid-2018. Data collected from Feb 2018 has been collected in coordination with University of Vermont Parking and Transportation Management.
The data show that parking spaces are available in downtown Burlington both on-street and off. Drivers are being issued fewer parking tickets than in recent years and revenues are strong allowing for a financially sustainable parking system in Burlington.
In 2018, through a mix of policy changes and technological innovations, Burlington’s parking system has seen improved financial health and aided in creating a more vibrant downtown.
Even in the face of extensive re-development in the downtown, parking counts have consistently shown spaces are available in both public and private parking facilities.
From February to May of 2018, city-owned garages were found to have, on average, no less than 389 parking spaces available. Marketplace Garage is unsurprisingly the most utilized.
On-street utilization averaged 42% and 34% on Thursday and Saturday mornings, respectively. That number rose to 76% and 86% in the evening, with 85% being the ideal balance of availability and revenue creation.
These parking counts show that even as the 567 spaces at Burlington Town Center were demolished, parking continues to be available in downtown Burlington.
The 2017 decrease in the hours of enforcement have not led to any dramatic increase in the utilization percentage in City garages. Instead, changes in enforcement have lead to decreases in the number of tickets being handed out.
As of 2014 and previous to our enforcement and technology changes, BPD issued 41,006 tickets. As of calendar year 2017, that number had decreased to 36,162 – by almost 12%. In 2018 fiscal year there was 18% drop in tickets issued between 8-10am and a 34% drop between 8-10pm.
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