The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has launched a comprehensive public engagement initiative to gather feedback on significant proposed changes to parking and curbspace management in two of the city’s most active business districts.
SDOT representatives have spent the early summer months conducting intercept surveys, speaking directly to people on the street to understand their travel habits.
First, the introduction of paid parking or new time limits is intended to force "parking turnover." When spaces are free and unmonitored, there is little incentive for drivers to move their vehicles, which stifles the economic throughput of the street.
This reflects an industry-wide move in urban planning away from seeing curbspace as a static public good and toward treating it as a dynamic, high-value asset that must be managed to prevent market failure.
Without dedicated zones, these drivers are often forced to choose between receiving a traffic ticket and blocking a lane of traffic.
Seattle Department of Transportation opens public comment on parking and loading changes for West Seattle Junction and Upper Queen Anne through July 27.