Partnership Creates More Access to Puyallup Sounder Station

Through an innovative partnership with the City of Puyallup and the Puyallup Fair and Events Center, Sound Transit is responding to the high demand for additional parking at the Puyallup Sounder station. The project creates a permanent 219-space park-and-ride lot by improving the Fair’s existing Red Lot, just minutes away from the Sounder station. Pierce Transit Route 495 will be timed to connect commuters to and from the train.

Join the project partners for the ground breaking. Monday, May 17, 11 a.m., Puyallup Fair's Red Lot: 5th St. SW and 7th Ave SW RSVP to events@soundtransit.org

With construction lasting only about three months, the lot will open for Puyallup Fair attendees this September and will be available to Sounder commuters beginning in October. Improvements include grading and paving the lot, plus adding drainage, landscaping, and replacement lighting. As part of Sound Transit’s commitment to using low-impact development techniques, the project incorporates a unique rain garden – or combination of soil and plant types -- that will collect water runoff from paved surfaces, serving as a natural stormwater management tool.

Project funding
The project’s $2.8 million budget will be covered by a combination of grant money and Sound Transit funds. Along with $250,000 in matching funds from Sound Transit’s budget, the project received a $1.85 million Regional Mobility Grant from the State of Washington. In addition, the City of Puyallup secured a $772,000 grant from the Federal Transit Administration, USDOT.

For more information, visit www.soundtransit.org/puyallupparking

Sound Transit Parking Pricing Study

Starting this summer Sound Transit will engage in a 14-month analysis to identify, analyze, evaluate and recommend strategies to effectively manage increasing demand for parking at Sound Transit’s transit stations and park-and-ride facilities.

The parking pricing study will focus on the feasibility and implications of instituting parking charges along the South Sounder Commuter Rail Line between Tacoma and Seattle, as well as how charging for parking would integrate into the Agency’s the region’s priorities for transit system use and access.

The stations and park and ride facilities that will be reviewed in the analysis include: Kent, Auburn, Sumner, Tacoma Dome and possibly South Tacoma and Lakewood.

Review the scope of work and timeline for the analysis here.

Demand Management to Get New Push in 2008

In order to address growing congestion across the region, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has established a triad of key congestion management objectives:

• Managing demand (i.e., building HOV lanes, supporting Commute Trip Reduction efforts, and using technology to offer more real-time information);
• Operating efficiently (i.e., installing ramp meters, synchronizing traffic signals, and deploying incident response units);
• Adding capacity (i.e., completing capital projects).

Managing demand will get renewed emphasis in Pierce County in 2008, as City of Tacoma and transit officials are planning to launch a new push to get workers out of their solo drives and into commute alternatives. Local business leaders are also coming to the table with a new program--Destination Downtown Door-to-Door (DDDD or "D to the fourth")--which takes its name both from Tacoma’s current urban center plan (“Destination Downtown”) and from the observation by City Manager Eric Anderson that an effective transportation demand program will provide downtown stakeholders with a variety of travel choices “from door to door.”

Both public and private transportation leaders are keen to implement successful strategies to manage transportation demand already tested in Portland and Seattle. Funding for these new programs is derived from WSDOT's Trip Reduction Performance Program (TRPP).

Does Parking Need to Be the 'Ugly Stepsister' of Transportation?

Parking--the endpoint for any vehicle trip--tends to be the "ugly stepsister" of the transportation world. New technology and a new paradigm for how that service is delivered is changing parking systems across America.

Typically, cities use parking regulations as a weapon to discourage people from parking downtown, as an incentive to use mass transportation, as a means to raise municipal revenue, or all three. New devices offer ways to increase customer choice, transforming that paradigm.

Portland Transport, the Rose City's version of On RAMP, recently posted a piece that reveals the experience of cities that have moved away from the old pay-for-space approach to a smarter parking system. New devices allow customers to buy parking anywhere they can within a specific district for the exact time they choose, and drivers also have payment options: cash, credit or even a prepaid gift card.

Boulder has recently deployed a Downtown Gift Card that can be used to pay for shopping, movies, and dining as well as municipal parking. Such cards are a way to make parking an integral part of the whole experience of visiting downtown.