As members of the West Windsor Parking Authority began examining the draft of the Desman parking supply-demand analysis to project how many more spaces are needed at the Princeton Junction train station, they decided that doing one last “scrub” of the waiting list will give them more of an accurate set of numbers to work with.##M:[more]##
The “scrub” — or removing people from the waiting list who have failed to respond three times to postcards asking them whether they were still interested in being on the list — is intended to give the authority, and thus its consultants, more accurate numbers on the wait list, which will affect data in the report. The report currently shows about 3,”400 more parking spaces will be needed to accommodate ridership projections up through the year 2015. But authority members stressed that the number is not final, as they examine the waiting list and other factors involved.
The authority hired Desman Associates of New York to analyze the existing conditions of parking at the train station, taking into account the wait list and commuter parking there in the future. Although township officials are looking to consider data gathered by the parking authority while coming up with plans for redevelopment, the parking authority stressed that it is looking at solving the parking problem at the station regardless of whether redevelopment happens.
There are currently 7,”300 daily travelers using the train station. There are 3,”600 spaces, 2,”600 of which are accessible by permit. The remaining 1,”000 are daily, first-come, first-serve spots. There are 3,”900 permit holders who have access to those 2,”600 spaces.
During the August 27 meeting, Desman officials discussed the numbers in the report, which they emphasized is still a draft. The overall parking study will be divided into three analyses — a supply-demand analysis, an alternative site analysis, and an economic feasibility analysis. The draft report only encompasses the supply-demand analysis, and Tom Calu, consultant for the parking authority, said the alternative site analysis is on hold until the task force of township, county, and state officials completes its traffic circulation plans (see story page 24). The economic feasibility study is dependent on the other two pieces of the report, he added.
Herb August, a parking planner with Desman, explained the numbers projected for parking at the train station in the draft report, which take into account ridership through 2015. He said that Desman officials collected field counts of parking spaces at the train station on July 1, an atypical month for travel, and adjusted their results by 7.5 percent based on travel data for July using numbers from other transit agencies in order to get an accurate assessment of the parking need at the station at any time of the year.
The results show that right now, without any consideration of the waiting lists, the authority is 100 spaces short at the train station, he said. The 100 spaces is also a generic number, and does not specify which lots need more spaces than others. Rather, it shows that having 100 more spaces would allow users to park more efficiently.
Looking further into the numbers, August explained that his firm had to re-analyze NJ Transit’s ridership projection numbers because the 2006 estimates “could never have guessed gas prices to go up the way they did,” to around $4 this year, which could potentially, in theory, increase ridership and create the need for more parking. The reformed numbers, which NJ Transit calculated specifically for the report, estimated that there would be an estimated 19 percent ridership increase by the year 2015, which, in the firm’s calculations would require the need for 760 more spaces.
Then Desman officials examined the two distinct waiting lists — the one for West Windsor residents only and the one for the public-at-large, which also includes those West Windsor residents. In their own scrub of the waiting lists, they determined that 1,”900 more spaces would be needed solely for West Windsor residents, but all together, taking into account the public-at-large waiting list, about 3,”400 more spaces would be needed. The projection was based on the 50 percent response rate the authority gets on its waiting lists. There are currently 2,”199 names on the West Windsor waiting list, and 5,”100 are on the public-at-large list.
This number was also heavily discussed by parking authority members, who felt the 50-percent return rate was not entirely accurate. Ron Rumack said he had a hard time believing that only 50 percent of people on the waiting list actually say they are interested and purchase a parking permit when their number comes up for a parking permit, and that 50 percent of people don’t take it.
Others, however, pointed out that some people may put their names on the waiting list because they might have the need to travel on the train in the future. “It costs $5 to be on the list, and parking is cheap once you get a permit,” said Tracy. “Why not?”
Miller, on the other hand, said she believed that if the waiting list was scrubbed of the people who are no longer interested in having a permit, the response rate would increase because everyone remaining on the list would still be interested. In addition, if the wait went down to two years from eight years, it would also certainly be higher, she said.
Parking authority members also said they thought the age of the people on the waiting list might also play a factor.
Parking Authority Adviser Pat Boyle, however, said he was concerned that 3,”400 was too high of a number because when the list is scrubbed, there might only be a response rate of 30 percent, and even fewer spaces may be needed.
“We have to start taking the people who we’ve contacted three times and haven’t responded and take them off,” said Parking Authority Chairman Andy Lupo. He also suggested the parking authority take a look at revising its policy of charging those on the waiting list $5 to remain on the list, because people who are really interested in staying on the list will be willing to pay more, indicating a more accurate number of those who are interested.
Parking Authority member Lyle Giandola asked whether the projections take into account ridership on the Bus Rapid Transit system projected to be rolled out by NJ Transit in phases, given the rising costs of gas. August said NJ Transit did not provide a figure that took into account both the rising costs of gas and the BRT, but also mentioned that while the BRT might increase ridership, it does not necessarily increase the need for more parking.
And “people more approximate to the station are not likely to utilize the BRT,” he said. He said he is expecting, though, that NJ Transit will provide those BRT estimations in the next round of figures.
While Calu advised the parking authority to keep discussions of the price of parking out of the mix for now because they are only focusing on the demand, Giandola said he felt pricing was a factor in the demand because the prices for a quarterly permit — $100 — are pretty good rates, and people may or may not be willing to purchase a permit if the price went up too high. He also suggested that people might be coming to Princeton Junction because it is so cheap. “Prices will influence demand dramatically,” he said. Boyle pointed out, however, the study did not adjust the prices estimated for inflation in 2015.
In moving forward with further revisions to the draft report, parking authority members also considered the preliminary number they gave to officials working on redevelopment. In their estimation, they suggested that a total of 6,”000 spaces, including the current spaces, would be needed by 2015. But the projection that 3,”400 more spaces would be needed puts the number of total parking spaces higher.
Calu emphasized that he told officials that they should identify more sites for potential parking than would be required. Still, Lupo said he was not comfortable with the 3,”400 number, and in saying it was definite, until more information and review, including the scrubbing of the list, was available. “We don’t want to come out with a number that’s going to confuse the community,” he said.
It is unknown yet when the next draft will be presented. The draft has not yet been made available to the public or township officials.
