A Review of the Residential Parking Management Program in Bellevue, WA

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

The purpose of this report is to review, evaluate, and make recommendations for Bellevue’s Residential Parking Management (RPM) program. To meet this objective, this report uses a literature review of Residential Permit Parking Zone (RPZ) programs, a review of the existing parking policy in Bellevue, a review of Bellevue’s comprehensive plans and associated neighborhood plans, a residential survey, a parking study, and an investigation into select RPZ programs across the nation. In Bellevue, the RPM program is a program that uses various management tools to address spillover parking concerns in residential neighborhoods. The RPZ program is the most common and most resource intensive tool within the RPM program and is therefore a focus of this report. Bellevue’s residential parking management program was created in 1985 and although the city has experienced a great deal of growth since then, the RPM program has not been reviewed or undergone major changes. This report concludes that residential parking management in Bellevue is achieving the goal of residential satisfaction, because the program is highly responsive to residents’ concerns with spillover parking. An example of this responsiveness is the criteria for creating new RPZs; as little as three parked cars on a residential street could potentially justify a new RPZ. However, this report also finds that the RPZ program has outgrown the resources that support it. Therefore, this report suggests implementing new goals for the program that account for the range of issues involved with residential parking concerns. The proposed goals for residential parking management are summarized as: satisfy residential concerns about spillover parking, maintain a quality program, and align parking management with other city goals. These goals provide the context and justification for the set of recommendations made in chapter 8.