NEWS: Salt Lake City, Downtown Alliance Release Findings From Parking Survey

SALT LAKE CITY, DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE RELEASE FINDINGS FROM PARKING SURVEY

Study looks at sentiments, perceptions and opinions about parking in the downtown area.

 

Salt Lake City (August 21, 2013) - Salt Lake City & Downtown Alliance recently completed a survey of 406 residents in Salt Lake and Davis Counties about on-street metered parking and off-street garage and parking lots.

 

In 2012, the City installed modern, solar-powered electronic meters adding the convenience of multiple payment options for customers, including the ability to add time remotely via a smart phone application. Changes to pricing and hours for on-street parking stalls were also implemented to increase turnover for customers of local businesses.

 

A public information campaign followed to educate residents and visitors of these changes, available options and to provide resources. The main messages were to communicate the fact there are 30,000 garage and lot spaces downtown, compared to 2,600 metered spaces and reminding residents and visitors metered parking is enforced from 8 am to 8 pm for 2 hours.  A website, parkingslc.com was created to further educate the public.

 

Highlights from the survey include:

 

·       Of the 406 people surveyed, only 4 people did not visit downtown in the past 12 months due to parking

·       89% of people who parked downtown patronized off-street paid garages/lots, while only 55% chose paid metered parking

·       63% and 65% have used City Creek Center or Gateway, respectively, in the past year

·       67% prefer garages, while only 20% prefer meter

·       70% showed a strong understanding of the usage of meters and felt they were easy to operate

·       Overwhelmingly, the ability to use a credit or debit card at meters was a favorite feature

·       Additionally, there was not a single feature or aspect of metered parking that stood out as a negative.

·       On-street metered parking time limits and costs had very little negative sentiments

·       Almost half of respondents assumed they needed to leave the receipts from the metered parking machine in their car

·       Many people appreciate and prefer using a credit/debit card to pay for on-street parking (and in general)

·       Awareness and usage of the QuickPay smartphone app is VERY low - only 10% of respondent knew of it and event less have used the app

·       Nearly three-quarters of people were not aware of the extension in paid meter hours from 6pm to 8pm

 

This survey, conducted with Richter 7 and Lighthouse Research, aimed to test the public´s perception of parking as a whole, as well as any pain points or lack of education. Additionally, the study looked to identify demographics experiencing unique challenges related to parking and found none. AN across the board consistency was found between SLC and Davis Country residents, between those who do or do not live downtown, nor between downtown workers and non-downtown workers.

 

Download the study here:

 

http://parkingslc.com/about/about-parkingslc-com

or

https://downtownslc.org/images/PDFs/DTA_SLC_Parking_Presentation.pdf