By 2040, the City of San Francisco’s population will increase by nearly 100,000 people. Much of this growth will occur in the City’s eastern neighborhoods: South of Market, Mission Bay and Dogpatch. To prepare for anticipated impacts on the City’s transportation system, the SFMTA’s Parking and Curb Management Group has embarked on a study of residents’ travel and parking patterns.
Most of the anticipated growth will be in the form of large, mixed-use buildings (residential + commercial). The SFMTA will be surveying residents currently living in multi-family buildings similar to those planned or under construction. The survey results will generate information about residents’ travel modes (transit, car share, walk, bike, etc.), vehicle ownership, and vehicle parking. Responses to the survey will help SFMTA estimate the future demand for transportation infrastructure, such as car-share services, bike lanes, on-street parking and pedestrian loading zones generated by population growth.
In addition, the SFMTA would like to better understand whether parking availability in residential areas affects ownership and use of personal vehicles. Towards that end, the survey will provide information that could assist the SFMTA in determining the best approach to implementing best practices in on-street parking in areas impacted by significant new housing development.
Some of the research questions that the SFMTA wants to address through this study are:
- Does availability of parking in residential areas affect vehicle ownership?
- Do the City of San Francisco’s development policies related to parking supply affect vehicle ownership?
- Do residents of buildings located within an RPP area have higher vehicle ownership rates than residents not within an RPP area?
- What is the likely impact of issuing RPP permits to residents of new multi-family housing? And, how would these residents be impacted by not issuing RPP permits?
Existing research has found that managing parking supply at the workplace is an effective means of encouraging use of alternative commute modes. There is no substantial body of research, however, that addresses whether the supply of parking in residential areas affects the use or ownership of personal vehicles. This study will help to close the gap in the available research.
Results of the survey will be posted on the project website in late summer or fall.