Results of the Newton Center Parking Study were presented to the Public Safety and Traffic Committee on Thursday January 14th.
Generally the report seems comprehensive and includes lots of data. As was the case in the Austin Street study, the study area is quite large and extends far from the center lot triangle, but the analysis in this case goes into better detail regarding the utilization of the core area proximate to businesses.
A key observation is that storefront spots desirable for high turnover errands are significantly consumed by cars parked for over 2 hours. A key theme is to price parking to target vacancy rates rather than revenue.
There seem to be several good options to improve current situation. Is this a prelude to proposing to build housing on the center parking lot? If this is the case, ultimately the process will result in higher parking costs and surrounding village on-street congestion, which factor into customer decisions on shopping and errands.
Comments?