B03.1 Introduction
- B03.1.1
Framework - B03.1.2
Goals - B03.1.3
Objectives - B03.1.4
Key Planning Principles of Coordinated Parking
Coordinated parking is a broad framework that includes multiple strategies aimed to right-size parking assets on Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) to reduce unnecessary costs and bolster base mobility in a campus-like environment.
Coordinated parking should be assessed as a key component of Integrated Mobility presented in Section B02, Integrated Mobility Framework. This section provides data and the methodology to achieve coordinated parking goals and objective described below.
Detailed criteria for Coordinated Parking is described in Section C03, Parking Areas.
- Reduce unnecessary parking construction and maintenance costs by using improved demand modeling strategies to right-size parking assets
- Strategically locate parking on base to maximize utility and improve safe, pleasant, and meaningful connections between buildings
- Integrate parking and mobility strategies to encourage a more walkable and bikeable campus-like base design
(UFC) 3-201-01, Civil Engineering, to right-size parking areas and consider nearby facilities and uses
When individual facilities provide required parking for their anticipated peak demand—as is typical in many vehicle-centric mixed-use environments and reflected in UFC parking ratios—users are encouraged to drive from place to place, parking their vehicles at each location. If adequate parking were provided individually by all (or even most) of the installation's collective facilities, most people would exhibit this behavior and have little incentive to use alternative mobility options such as walking, biking, or potential shuttle services.
Not only would this general status quo in base mobility fail to meet the base’s walkability goals, but it would prevent Tyndall AFB from achieving is goal to become the Installation of the Future. A 2014 study by the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP) found that shared parking can reduce parking requirements by 20 to 40%.1
The following planning concepts guide the coordinated parking strategy discussion and must be considered in development opportunity evaluation.
View Parking as an Installation Asset
Traditional parking demand is based on individual facilities and their primary functions, whereas mixed-use developments, such as Tyndall AFB, are purposely designed for multiple uses operating in proximity to each other. When the facilities in a mixed-use development all build their own parking areas, there is a disconnect between the purposeful clustering of facilities and the use of land for parking purposes. This disconnect means providing parking based on individual facility use will inevitably oversupply parking and increase the spacing between facilities, both of which significantly diminish the base’s walkability.
In a coordinated parking strategy, parking assets are viewed as an installation-wide amenity serving all nearby facilities. Not only does this promote the coordination and sharing of spaces, reducing construction and maintenance costs, but also encourages future development to orient facilities in higher densities and increase the viability of connections between buildings.
Use Demand Modeling Best Practices
As is explained in Section B03.2, the parking development process supplements UFC 3-201-01 parking ratios with Urban Land Institute’s Shared Parking Model parking rates from the ITE Parking Generation Manual, 5th ed. This model is designed for mixed-use developments and assists in identifying potential shared uses and avoid unnecessary cost.
The Sample Shared Parking Usage chart to the right is based on a study of similar mixed-use developments. Whereas each housing or school use has its own needed parking spaces, they do not need them at the same time; school parking is needed primarily during the day and when residential parking is needed in the evenings and on weekends. Employing a modeling process to identify similar opportunities helps right-size base parking assets as well as improve mobility and quality of life.
Achieve Installation Goals through Integrated Design
The Tyndall Air Force Base Master Plan states the installation design should “promote campus like environment, live in dorms and walk to fitness… walk to community support, walk to workplace; Monday to Friday without getting into vehicles.” Not only will reducing space between buildings devoted to storing vehicles increase the likelihood of achieving this vision but having a coordinated process in each district as described in Section C03, Parking Areas, that can engage across zone boundaries and between uses will ensure the installation works as a cohesive unit as opposed to a collection of parts in proximity.
Evaluate Parking Development Impacts to Access, Network, and Experience
Detailed more fully on the following page, parking assets must be considered in relation to how they are located on the site and how they connect to surrounding facilities and the installation. Making the primary external connection point (the parking lot) an integral component to the overarching mobility framework will attract users and motivate them to walk or bike for their internal trips rather than moving the car and parking in another lot on base for each successive trip throughout the day.
1 Kondransky, Michael. 2014. “What is Shared Parking?” Transport Matters. Institute for Transportation & Development Policy. December.