NEWS
Cross-town traffic choking the city
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Also by Michelle Orris:
- UW band to play pre- and post-game Music City Bowl (December 11, 2003)
- UW advertising project receives national attention for study (December 4, 2003)
- UW advertising project receives national attention for study (December 4, 2003)
- Greenberg telecasts live from Madison, lectures students (November 14, 2003)
Related Stories:
- Council debates transportation (January 23, 2003)
- City commission raises parking rates (November 13, 2001)
- Parking meter fees may increase (December 9, 2005)
- State Street parking ramp plan approved in committee (April 24, 2002)
- City considers future travel (September 27, 2006)
by Michelle Orris
Thursday, January 23, 2003
At the Madison City Council meeting Tuesday, project manager David Trowbridge said an increase in parking rates could be one means to increase mass-transit ridership in the future.
Ald. Dorothy Borchardt, District 12, said the idea is currently not officially on the table, because definite plans for transportation improvement have not been introduced.
“They are very careful to say it’s not anything they are considering right now, because there would be such a public outcry about it,” Borchardt said. “But that still is one of the things that could happen.”
The Transport 2020 committee has worked to find ways to decrease traffic congestion downtown, exploring light-rail transit, electric streetcars and improved busing.
Trowbridge said traffic congestion has increased in downtown Madison, particularly in central areas including East Washington and University Avenue. Traffic on Madison’s isthmus could more than double by the year 2020.
Trowbridge said Madison has no more road capacity, creating the need for alternative transportation.
“We want to keep downtown Madison healthy and growing, without all the freeways that choke some cities,” Trowbridge said.
Richard Wagner, a member of Transport 2020, said they modeled the effects of higher parking rates to see if it could increase light-rail ridership, and he concluded that raised parking rates was a minor factor leading to widespread use of mass transit.
Trowbridge disagreed, however, saying steep parking rates was one of the most significant factors leading to light-rail transit use.
“Over time the costs will go up, and lots of people on the council and the Progressive Dane would like to use parking rates as a mechanism to force mass transit,” he said.
Ald. Judy Olson, District 6, said the concept of raising prices is worth exploring.
“To have to gas up and pay for expensive parking is a good reason to switch to transit,” she said. “But there is sure to be opposition and it will have to be weighed out. There are no easy conclusions.”
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, said another strike against raising parking prices is its effect on businesses that would rather build on the periphery of the city than deal with parking costs. He said one of the biggest reasons why the Alliant Energy Center headquarters is not downtown is because of the high parking costs.
“I don’t know if parking rates is what we need to attract people to transit, but a bigger reason to raise them is to pay for the system itself,” Verveer said.
Light-rail costs per car are roughly estimated at $2.5 to $3 million each, and streetcar estimates are at $2 million each. The committee estimates that start-up capital costs would total $242 million, with annual operating costs of $40 million.
Construction of new transportation is still five to 20 years away. The City Council approved the next step toward new transit at Tuesday’s meeting, adopting a more thorough study of the alternatives and their costs and traffic and neighborhood impacts. The study will cost $2.5 million.
Borchardt said higher parking rates are a likely possibility to subsidize the cost, especially as parking demand rises.
“We’re going to have parking costs go up regardless, as supply dwindles,” Borchardt said.
Trowbridge said he thinks raised parking rates could work well to increase mass transit ridership.
“People will think about whether they really want to pay at least $100 a month just to park,” Trowbridge said, suggesting people will find personal value in using mass transit. “If we keep the light-rail fares low, people could get used to it.”
