Recommendations to Improve the Customer Experience - Smart Meter Pilot Project Copyrighted
January 22, 2019
City of Dubuque Action Items # 5.
ITEM TITLE: Recommendations to Improve the Customer Experience
Based Upon the Smart Meter Pilot
SUMMARY: City Manager recommending that the City move forward
with creating a comprehensive plan for the implementation
of a Smart Parking Services Platform.
SUGGESTED DISPOSITION: Suggested Disposition: Receive and File; Approve
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Type
Smart Meter Pilot-NNM Memo City Manager Memo
Staff Memo Staff Memo
THE CTTY OF Dubuque
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DUB E 'il��i;'
Masterpiece on the Mississippi Z°°' Z°'Z
2013 2017
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
SUBJECT: Recommendation to Improve the Customer Service Experience Based
Upon the Smart Meter Pilot
DATE: January 17, 2019
The City of Dubuque is experiencing a growing demand for parking options in its Central
Business District. This demand is due to the consistent growth of tourism, and the
development of business opportunities and employment that is bringing more people
into our city. The Central Business District is composed of the Downtown area, the Port
of Dubuque and the Historic Millwork District.
The City finds itself faced with finding solutions to accommodate our residents, visitors
and business by providing parking options that offer the best parking experience
specifically in the districts that are experiencing an increase in commercial and
residential growth.
The Parking Division manages thirteen surface parking lots in the downtown area and
two surface parking lots in the Port of Dubuque. The surface parking lots in the
downtown area have a capacity of 488 and 521 spaces in the Port of Dubuque. The
parking lots operate on a combination of monthly reserved parking and parking meters.
The parking ramps in the downtown area have a space capacity of 2803 and the ramp
in the Port of Dubuque has 1069 spaces. The Division manages 1859 street and lot
parking meters. These meters have time increments of 20 minute, 40 minute, 1 hour, 2
hours, 4 hours and 10 hours.
The City's current parking plafform is a mixture of on-street and off-street parking
provided by lots, ramps and street parking. The parking system is not an integrated
plafform. Under the current system we do not have the means to offer the most efficient
and effective parking experience to our residents, visitors and commercial community.
The efficiency and effectiveness of the City's parking system are impacted by the
following factors:
Capacity — The lack of a centralized parking system that offers technological and digital
updates via apps or digital signage for available parking in the area versus looking for
spaces in ramps, lots or on the street
Type of user— Monthly or regular parking patrons can find the available spaces more
efficiently than infrequent visitors because they are familiar with the layout of the parking
facility and typically know where the spaces will be available when they are parking.
On-street vs. Off-street — On-street parking spaces are less efficient than off-street
spaces, due to the time it takes patrons to find vacant spaces and unclear signage that
typically accompanies on-street parking systems. In addition, patrons are generally
limited to one side of the street at a time and often must parallel park in traffic to use the
space.
Smart parking provides options and ideas for a more improved parking experience. The
ideal system will allow the integration of all of the existing platforms into one system.
This system will provide real time data gathering, notification of parking availability via
app and digital signage, cashless parking, and options for time extensions that will
reduce parking violations. Smart parking offers opportunities to increase utilization of
the current parking system through the application of demand management strategies.
The concept of parking demand management incorporates the use of smart growth
principles that focus on equitable operating policies, pricing strategies, and public transit
initiatives. A smart parking system encourages proactive parking management
strategies as an effective tool in mitigating the amount of additional future parking
supply that is required by maximizing the utilization of existing parking resources.
Current parking meter hardware is dated and it lacks the ability to integrate with smart
parking technology.
In early 2018 per the recommendation of the Transportation Services Department the
City began to explore the option of smart parking by looking at smart meter options.
After reviewing presentations from several vendors, the City chose to enter into a trial
program with Municipal Parking Services, Inc. ("MPS") starting Tuesday, October 2,
2018 through Friday, November 2, 2018.
MPS proposed a pilot using equipment installed and operated at no cost to the City. For
31 days residents and visitors had the use of 10 meters and 2 SafetySticks covering 21
spaces in mutually agreed upon locations. During the pilot period there were 3,348
parking transactions; 16°k were credit card transactions. The pilot provided a snapshot
of how an integrated Smart parking system can optimize the customer's parking
experience using innovative ways to alleviate traffic congestion and improve the parking
experience. The pilot demonstrated that a smart parking platform is needed to
accommodate the growing business and residential populations in the Downtown,
Millwork and Port districts.
2
It is the recommendation of Director of Transportation Services Renee Tyler that the
City move forward with creating a comprehensive plan for the implementation of a
Smart Parking Services Platform. The platform will focus on improving the customer
experience and it will integrate smart parking technology for the commercial and
residential populations in the Downtown, Millwork and Port Districts using digital
signage, apps and smart meters to alert residents and visitors of available parking.
Step I. The commission of a comprehensive parking study that will provide an update of
current inventory that will provide the basis for determining equitable parking options for
the residential and commercial population within the area.
Step II: Using the data gathered from the study construct an RFP for an integrated
platform. Criteria will include the ability to provide Smart Realtime Technology to
include digital signage, smart meters, an integral database that links all equipment used
to operate ramps, meters, and parking kiosks. Funding criteria should be explored
during this RFP. I recommend that the City look at nontraditional funding such as a pay
performance agreement structured on a revenue split based on net revenue after all
meter related expenses have been covered (similar to the agreement proposed by
MPS) or a municipal lease agreement that allows a negotiated payment over a term
period.
Step III: The analysis of the pilot data showed that the Downtown District street parking
is most heavily utilized in the following corridors: Main Street (South End to 14th Street),
the Federal Building (both sides of 6th) and Locust Street (1 st to 14th Street). The Main
Street District has 197 metered parking spaces with 33 metered permits between 11 th
and 13th street. Locust has 185 metered parking spaces and there are 60 meter
permits integrated throughout the area. There are 18 meters in front of the Federal
Building with no meter permitted parking. Upon the award of the RFP for the Smart
Parking Platform is my recommendation to focus the initial rollout of this project in the
Main Street, Federal building and Locust Street parking districts. The initial RFP will
also address the use of parking ramps and how they integrate into the smart meter
concept. This will allow the City to provide more effective parking solutions to the
citizens and visitors while providing better enforcement coverage to two of the busiest
sections of the city.
Due to the anticipated growth from the influx of a commercial and residential population
in the Millwork District smart meters can be installed in the newly opened lots on 9th
and Elm and 11 th and Elm. These lots are currently unmetered with 4 hours parking
monitored by Parking Enforcement Officers. However, the effectiveness of these
meters may not be realized until both sides of Washington between White and Elm are
metered.
3
After conversion of these key on-street parking areas, surface lots and the parking
ramps, the City will move to integrate the remaining public parking through this
multiyear phased approach.
I concur with the recommendation and respectfully request Mayor and City Council
approval.
.L�1Gt3'i�+'1 � ��fx�L�/1tr "-,.
Mic ael C. Van Milligen
MCVM:jh
Attachment
cc: Crenna Brumwell, City Attorney
Teri Goodmann, Assistant City Manager
Cori Burbach, Assistant City Manager
Renee Tyler, Director of Transportation Services
4
Dubuque
THE CITY OF �
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Masterpiece on the Mississippi 1 I I I I�'
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TO: Michael C. Van Milligen, City Manager
FROM: Renee Tyler, Director of Transportation Services
SUBJECT: Recommendations to Improve the Customer Experience Based Upon the
Smart Meter Pilot
DATE: January 11, 2019
Introduction
The City of Dubuque ("City") is experiencing a growing demand for parking options in its
Central Business District. This demand is due to the consistent growth of tourism, and
the development of business opportunities and employment that is bringing more
people into our city.
The Central Business District is composed of the Downtown area, the Port of Dubuque
and the Historic Millwork District. Addressing parking issues such as variable on-street
paid parking in the commercial district, residential permit parking, parking validation
programs, parking requirements for new development, a parking information campaign,
increasing the parking inventory, shared parking arrangements and additional
enforcement of existing regulations has been ongoing.
The City finds itself faced with finding solutions to accommodate our residents, visitors
and business by providing parking options that offer the best parking experience
specifically in the districts that are experiencing an increase in commercial and
residential growth. Per a 2008 study performed by Walker Parking Consultants the
areas of growth were correctly identified as the Downtown, Millwork and Washington
districts.
Background
The Parking Division manages thirteen surface parking lots in the downtown area and
two surface parking lots in the Port of Dubuque. The surface parking lots in the
downtown area have a capacity of 488 and 521 spaces in the Port of Dubuque. The
parking lots operate on a combination of monthly reserved parking and parking meters.
i
The parking ramps in the downtown area have a space capacity of 2803 and the ramp
in the Port of Dubuque has 1069 spaces. The Division manages 1859 street and lot
parking meters. These meters have time increments of 20 minute, 40 minute, 1 hour, 2
hours, 4 hours and 10 hours.
The 2008 parking study projected a future need for parking in the Warehouse District
(Millwork) due to the abundance of available commercial space slated for
redevelopment and the lack of existing parking supply.
Long-term recommendations from the 2008 report advised the City to consider the
development of a public parking platform that satisfies public demand and influences
development by providing for future needs.
Discussion
Our current parking platform is a mixture of on-street and off-street parking provided by
lots, ramps and street parking. The parking system is not an integrated platform. Under
the current system we do not have the means to offer the most efficient and effective
parking experience to our residents, visitors and commercial community.
The efficiency and effectiveness of the City's parking system are impacted by the
following factors:
Capacity — The lack of a centralized parking system that offers technological and digital
updates via apps or digital signage for available parking in the area versus looking for
spaces in ramps, lots or on the street
Type of user— Monthly or regular parking patrons can find the available spaces more
efficiently than infrequent visitors because they are familiar with the layout of the parking
facility and typically know where the spaces will be available when they are parking.
On-street vs. Off-street — On-street parking spaces are less efficient than off-street
spaces, due to the time it takes patrons to find vacant spaces and unclear signage that
typically accompanies on-street parking systems. In addition, patrons are generally
limited to one side of the street at a time and often must parallel park in traffic to use the
space.
After the 2013 launch of the Passport Meter system which allows cashless parking via a
phone app, the City began to look at smart parking solutions in early 2018. Smart
parking provides options and ideas for a more improved parking experience. The ideal
system will allow the integration of all of our existing platforms into one system. This
system will provide real time data gathering, notification of parking availability via app
and digital signage, cashless parking, and options for time extensions that will reduce
parking violations. Smart parking offers opportunities to increase utilization of the
current parking system through the application of demand management strategies. The
concept of parking demand management incorporates the use of smart growth
2
principles that focus on equitable operating policies, pricing strategies, and public transit
initiatives. A smart parking system encourages proactive parking management
strategies as an effective tool in mitigating the amount of additional future parking
supply that is required by maximizing the utilization of existing parking resources.
A first look at parking solutions to modernize our current meter system resulted in the
FY2013 implementation of the Passport system. Passport allows residents and visitors
to use credit cards or coins for parking payment. It also provides an option for
extending parking sessions. Unfortunately, Passport does not support or provide the
components needed to integrate the City's lots, ramps and street parking into one
platform. Additionally, current parking meter hardware is dated and it lacks the ability to
integrate with smart parking technology.
In early 2018 per the recommendation of the Transportation Services Department the
City began to explore the option of smart parking by looking at smart meter options.
After reviewing presentations from several vendors, the City chose to enter into a trial
program with Municipal Parking Services, Inc. ("MPS") starting Tuesday, October 2,
2018 through Friday, November 2, 2018.
MPS proposed a pilot using equipment installed and operated at no cost to the City. For
31 days our residents and visitors had the use of 10 meters and 2 SafetySticks covering
21 spaces in mutually agreed upon locations. During this period, 3 meters were
installed at lower Main between the blocks of 1 st and 2nd, 3 were installed on Main in
the 9th block and 5 meters were installed at 9th and Jackson.
During the pilot period there were 3,348 parking transactions; 16°k were credit card
transactions. This trend is consistent with the results of our Passport program where
we see card transactions are trending monthly at 18-20°k. An integrated parking
platform will provide more succinct options for residents and visitors in their ability to
park.
The pilot provided a snapshot of how an integrated Smart parking system can optimize
the customer's parking experience using innovative ways to alleviate traffic congestion
and improve the parking experience through:
- Smart meters are designed to be customer-friendly, drivers can pay with a credit
card, coins, or through a parking app. Parking can also be paid remotely by app
- Providing immediate assistance in areas where parking is a commodity with
significant violations.
- Optimal parking achieved through an increase of traffic flow.
- Assisting with pollution reduction through a decrease in driving and idling time
thereby cutting emissions ultimately reducing the global and environmental footprint.
- The creation of new technological revenue streams that include reward systems to
residents for compliance and adverting opportunities for local business.
3
- Optimization of existing parking through the use of tiered payment options
depending upon parking space location and time of day.
- Provides a measurable increase in pedestrian safety and parking enforcement.
Parking lot employees and security guards contain real-time lot data that can help
prevent parking violations and suspicious activity. License plate recognition
cameras can gather pertinent footage. Also, decreased spot-searching traffic on the
streets can reduce accidents caused by the distraction of searching for parking.
- The parker can take more time for shopping, medical visits, or tourism activities
while away from the car and the parking meter without fear of receiving a ticket for
violation.
- Providing real time data for parking trends, over time, a smart parking solution can
produce data that uncovers correlations and trends of users and lots. These trends
can prove to be invaluable to lot owners as to how to make adjustments and
improvements to drivers
- A decrease in administrative and operational costs due to more automation and less
manual activity. This saves on labor cost and resource exhaustion.
- Increased service and brand image — a seamless experience can really skyrocket a
corporate or commercial entities brand image to the user. Whether the destination is
a retail store, an airport or a corporate business office, visitors will surely be
impressed with the cutting edge technology and convenience factors.
- The integration of a smart parking platform will give our Parking Enforcement
Officers ("PEO") the ability to focus on other areas in the City that are regulated by
permit parking.
- An overall better parking experience for our residents and out of town guests.
The pilot demonstrated that a smart parking platform is needed to accommodate the
growing business and residential populations in the Downtown, Millwork and Port
districts.
The City is anticipating a new wave of growth with Dupaco Credit Union ("Dupaco").
Dupaco recently announced its plans to expand its operations to the Millwork district.
This expansion plan requires a detailed block by block breakdown of available off street
parking inventory and long-term parking beginning on or before December 31 , 2019.
Dupaco's expansion terms will require the City to move forward with planning a smart
parking platform that will accommodate future parking and transportation needs through
the development and integration of Smart Realtime Technology.
4
In FY19 $424,499 was allocated for operational and capital cost for upkeep and meter
replacement of the current system.
Operational & Capital Cost for Current Meter System:
$424,499
5zso,000
5zzi,ssa
5zoo,000
5iso,000
5iao,000
5ioo,000
$72,946
$50,000
$0
Meter Replacement(Capital Meter Maintenance(Operations) Parking Meter Enforcement
Budget)FY19
As illustrated in the graph, $130,000 has been set aside for meter replacement in FY19.
Recommendation
It is the recommendation of Transportation Services that the City move forward with
creating a comprehensive plan for the implementation of a Smart Parking Services
Platform. The platform will focus on improving the customer experience and it will
integrate smart parking technology for the commercial and residential populations in the
Downtown, Millwork and Port Districts using digital signage, apps and smart meters to
alert residents and visitors of available parking.
Step I. The commission of a comprehensive parking study that will provide an update of
current inventory that will provide the basis for determining equitable parking options for
the residential and commercial population within the area.
J
Step II: Using the data gathered from the study construct an RFP for an integrated
platform. Criteria will include the ability to provide Smart Realtime Technology to
include digital signage, smart meters, an integral database that links all equipment used
to operate ramps, meters, and parking kiosks. Funding criteria should be explored
during this RFP. I recommend that the City look at nontraditional funding such as a pay
performance agreement structured on a revenue split based on net revenue after all
meter related expenses have been covered (similar to the agreement proposed by
MPS) or a municipal lease agreement that allows a negotiated payment over a term
period.
This period is an ideal time for consolidation of the various merchant card processers
into one.
Step III: The analysis of the pilot data showed that the Downtown District street parking
is most heavily utilized in the following corridors: Main Street (South End to 14th Street),
the Federal Building (both sides of 6th) and Locust Street (1 st to 14th Street). The Main
Street District has 197 metered parking spaces with 33 metered permits between 11 th
and 13th street. Locust has 185 metered parking spaces and there are 60 meter
permits integrated throughout the area. There are 18 meters in front of the Federal
Building with no meter permitted parking. Upon the award of the RFP for the Smart
Parking Platform is my recommendation to focus the initial rollout of this project in the
Main Street, Federal building and Locust Street parking districts. The initial RFP will
also address the use of parking ramps and how they integrate into the smart meter
concept. This will allow the City to provide more effective parking solutions to the
citizens and visitors while providing better enforcement coverage to two of the busiest
sections of the city.
Due to the anticipated growth from the influx of a commercial and residential population
in the Millwork District smart meters can be installed in the newly opened lots on 9th
and Elm and 11 th and Elm. These lots are currently unmetered with 4 hours parking
monitored by Parking Enforcement Officers. However, the effectiveness of these
meters may not be realized until both sides of Washington between White and Elm are
metered.
After conversion of these key on-street parking areas, surface lots and the parking
ramps, the City will move to integrate the remaining public parking through this
multiyear phased approach.
6
It is recommended that Economic Development, Planning and Transportation Services
work together to create a plan that will service the needs of these Districts and
anticipate future parking and transportation service needs to ensure that we are meeting
the parking and transportation needs of all our residents and visitors in the most
equitable manner.
VRT
Attachments (4)
Cc: Jill Connors, Director of Economic Development
Gus Psihoyos, City Engineer, Engineering
Laura Carsten, City Planner, Planning
Jodi Johnson, Operations Supervisor, Transportation Services
Meter Revenue Summary
There were at total of 3,348 parking transactions during the smart meter pilot. 16%
were credit card transactions.
Smart Meter Pilot - Meter Revenue Summary - Coins and Credit
Cards
$i,600
$1,400 Meter Revenue
285 Main Pilot 890 Main Pilot Jackson Street 7otal
Pilot
$1,200 SM159 00 5616A5 5497A5 f1,572.50
5146 10 5148 50 533�1 08 f628.68
$1,000
$100.85 5127.49 583.11
Total 5605.10 576d.95 5231.13 52.201.12
$800
$600
$400
$200
$0 ■ ■
285 Main Pilot 890 Main Pilot Jackson Street Pilot Total
■Coins ■Credit Card
Coin vs Credit Card Use
285 Main Pilot 890 Main Pilot Jackson Street Total
Pilot
• 791 1,340 687 2,818
-. . 124 145 261 530
• '-• - � 14% 10% 28% 16%
-. .
Total 915 1485 948 3348
8
Meter Revenue Summary (continued)
Meter Revenue Oct-Dec 2018
5�0,000.00
5eo,000.00
5so,000.00
5ao,000.00
5ao,000.00
5zo,000.00
5io,0005° III 1■1 1I1 I
■■■ 1I1 ■1�
Passport Bluff Locust Main lowa Central Millwork Total
■December ■November ■October
October November December
Passport $12,223.00 $ 9,868.25 $ 9,807.05
Bluff $ 6,585.00 $ 3,192.84 $ 6,921.00
Locust $ 7,996.00 $ 9,024.00 $ 5,960.00
Main $16,094.00 $15,021.00 $10,104.00
lowa $ 2,726.00 $ 2,844.00 $ 3,200.00
Central $ 8,227.96 $ 9,910.93 $ 5,271.00
Millwork $ 3,861.00 $ 6,131.38 $ 3,104.00
Total $57,712.96 �$55,992.40 $44,367.05
9
Violations Comparison
During the pilot period more violations were recorded than the same period in 2017.
This can be attributed to several factors:
• The 2017 violations were the instances when a PEO happened to be at an
expired meter at the right time
• The 2018 violations include every single violation when a vehicle was parked at
the smart meter— no PEO had to be present to record the violation
Meter Violations at Smart Meter Locations during same period: 2017 vs 2018
450
400 235 Main St 390 Main St 9761ackson St
2017 Meter Violations 39 55 53
2018:Did Not Pay 133 65% 197 54% 215 55%
350 2013:TimeExceeded 100 35% 168 46% 177 45%
2013 Total 238 365 392
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
285 Main St 890 Main St 976 Jackson St
■2017 2018 Did Not Pay ■2018 Time Exceeded
10
Violations Comparison (continued)
Meter Violations at Smart Meter locations during same
period: 2017 vs 2018
aoo
350
300
250
200
150
100
5� ■ . ■
285 Main St 890 Main St 976Jackson St
■2017 Meter Violations �2018 Detected Violations: Did Not Pay and Time Exceeded
ll