Performance Parking Pilot Is Underway in Arlington County

As part of Arlington County's Master Transportation Plan (MTP),  the Transportation Engineering & Operations Bureau of Arlington County received a $5.4 million grant from the Virginia Department of Transportation's Innovation and Technology Transportation (VDOT) fund to install and try new technology that will allow Arlington county to better understand and manage the demand for metered parking around the County. The Pilot project  will cover about 4,500 metered parking spaces in two major corridors: Rosslyn-Ballston and Richmond Highway. 

The new technology will only collect occupancy data which will allow the project team to study new pricing tools and change prices (up or down) across the 4,500 parking spaces included in the pilot. 

What Are the Goals of this Project?

As the pilot project unfolds, Arlington County will be looking to enhance the parking experience for commuters and residents. We all know the difficulties of finding a spot next to our favorite shop, restaurant, or even close to our office buildings. The pilot project, as stated in the grant application submitted to VDOT, will: 

• Drive folks to choose to park on block faces where demand is low
• Reduce instances of double parking, freeing up travel lanes and reducing conflicts
• Allow drivers to spend less time looking for on-street parking
• Reduce vehicle miles traveled resulting from on-street parking search
• Reduce mobile emissions from vehicles as a result of reduced miles travelled

What this Project Does Not Do:

As we navigate these fluctating ecomonical times, it is important to clarify that this project is not a vehicle for increasing parking revenue, but a way to enhance the parking experience and change the behavior of travelers around the County. The project does not:

• Seek to increase overall parking revenue
• Increase all metered parking rates across the board
• Decrease the number of reserved ADA-accessible parking spaces
• Create dynamically or fast changing metered-pricing

You can read more about the project and browse the most frequently asked questions section to better understand the goals and importance of this project. 

Engage and Give Feedback

Arlington County has held a virtual public meeting to kick off public engagement on the Performance Parking Pilot Project, and you can watch the recording here. 

Furthermore, the public feedback form is now live. If you are a business or property in the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor or in the National Landing area, you can now provide feedback on how Arlington County should prioritize the goals of this project. It only takes a few minutes to fill out the form and it will help make this project successful. 

Photo Credit: Albert Ting/theclickting.com for Arlington Transportation Partners