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LTC 001-2019 ART WEEK - TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING INITIATIVESMIAMIBE C OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER NO. LTC# 001-2019 LETTER TO COMMISSION Mayor Dan Gelber and Members of the City Commission (/ . (}~,f)~·· TO: FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager '{;'uu(}uJ,Jqvvvv~, -f6, .:.\L~ DATE: January 2, 2019 SUBJECT: ART WEEK 2018-TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING INITIATIVES The purpose of this Letter to Commission is to provide information on the transportation and parking initiatives implemented during Art Basel/Design Miami 2018. As premier events, Art Basel and Design Miami generate increased vehicular and pedestrian traffic as well as high demand for valet and public parking. Transportation and parking initiatives were implemented to improve attendee experience and safety, provide transportation and parking alternatives, reduce traffic congestion, and increase parking availability. Transportation: In an effort to mitigate traffic congestion during Art Week, since 2015, the City has provided, at its sole cost, free shuttle service between major art fairs in the City and Art Basel at the Miami Beach Convention Center. In preparation for Art Week 2018, the Transportation Department staff reached out to five (5) major art fairs in Miami Beach (Art Basel, Design Miami, Pulse, Scope, and Untitled) to identify if any would be interested in partnering with the City to provide a consolidated free shuttle service connecting the art fairs to the Miami Beach Convention Center. This coordination by staff yielded only one (1) fair (Pulse) with whom the City partnered to provide free shuttle service. Via a sponsorship agreement with the City, Pulse contributed approximately one-third ($7,500) of the total cost of operating the free shuttle service. The Art Week shuttle service operated from December 6 through December 9, 2018, from 11AM to 8PM Thursday through Saturday, and from 11AM to 6PM on Sunday. Service frequency was below 20 minutes, and the route consisted of three (3) stops: Pulse (located at 4601 Collins Avenue), the Miami Beach Convention Center, and a stop on Ocean Drive between 9 Street and 10 Street to serve various art fairs in South Beach. The total number of passengers who utilized the free shuttle service from December 6 through December 9 was 1 ,508; and most passengers boarded at Pulse (834 passengers), followed by Convention Center (500 passengers) and Ocean Drive (174 passengers). Out of 500 passengers boarding at Convention Center, 258 boarded in the southbound direction (to Ocean Drive) and 174 boarded in the northbound direction (to Pulse). In summary, approximately two thirds of the total number of passengers had Pulse as either their origin or destination. The average cost of service was $13/passenger for the north loop (Convention Center to and from Pulse), and $18/passenger for the south loop (Convention Center to and from Ocean Drive). As mentioned above, approximately one third of this cost was funded by Pulse and the remaining two thirds was borne by the City. During this same period, the South Beach Trolley and Collins Express Trolley service experienced an increase in ridership of approximately 10%, while the Middle Beach Trolley and North Beach Trolley Loops experienced a decrease in ridership of approximately 6% as January 2, 2019 Letter to Commission Art Week 2018 Transportation & Parking Initiatives Page 2 compared to the average daily ridership of these routes over the last 10 months. Overall, ridership on the City's trolley service during Art Week 2018 was approximately 5% higher than normal, with an average of 14,400 boardings per day (approximately 650 boardings per day more than normal). In addition to the above transit initiative, the Transportation Department worked closely with residents of the Palm View neighborhood to develop a temporary traffic reduction strategy intended to mitigate the impacts of increased vehicular volumes, cut-through traffic, speeding, and illegal parking historically experienced in the Palm View neighborhood during prior Art Weeks. The City's strategy consisted of deploying temporary devices that restricted ingress/egress to/from the Palm View neighborhood at the intersections of Meridian Avenue with 18th Street and 19th Street, and at the intersections of 17'h Street with Lenox Avenue and Jefferson Avenue. City staff coordinated with Google/Waze to ensure that these mapping applications reflected the temporary access modifications to these intersections during Art Week. The implementation of the temporary access management initiative was a success in terms of effectively reducing the number of non-resident vehicles that entered and exited the Palm View neighborhood with the sole purpose of illegally parking or cutting-through to avoid traffic congestion on 17th Street or Meridian Avenue. Additionally, as a result of this initiative, there was a significant reduction in illegal parking by ride share vehicles stopping, parking, or waiting for rides on Palm View neighborhood streets. Once Art Week was over, the City removed the temporary traffic devices and normal vehicular access to/from the neighborhood was reinstated. Following Art Week, the City received emails from the Palm View Homeowners Association with accolades as a result of the effective traffic reduction strategy implemented for the neighborhood during this Art Week. As such, the City intends to continue deployment of this traffic reduction strategy on a temporary basis for the Palm View neighborhood during all future major events at the Convention Center. Parking: This year, as in the prior two years, parking inventory in the Convention Center area was significantly diminished by the loss of the Preferred Parking Lot and unavailability of the Convention Center garage. To compensate for the reduced parking space inventory the City put in place a comprehensive plan to vacate parking spaces, provide more convenient valet parking storage and alleviate traffic congestion in the Convention Center area. The multi-approach plan was effective Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (12/5 through 12/7 /18) and consisted of not- scheduling in-person meetings at City Hall and area City buildings, allowing employees to take home City vehicles, and implementing telecommuting and flex schedules whenever possible. Additionally, a Lyft program was implemented to transport City employees who work in the City Hall area. The program rendered excellent results. Garage parking inventory proved to be sufficient; at no time were fair attendees inconvenienced by garage closures. Parking availability in the City Hall Garage (CHG) provided close-in parking alternatives to the public (reducing pedestrian traffic) as well as ideal storage for valet vehicles. This year valet service saw record breaking demand, parking over 3,500 vehicles in six (6) days (Tuesday 12/4/18 through Sunday 12/9/18), as compared to 2,888 in 2014, 2901 in 2015, 3403 in 2016 and 1,960 in 2017. City Hall Garage usage revealed the success of the Lyft program. During the three (3) days when Lyft transported employees to and from work, there were 2,979 transactions in the CHG. This figure includes 1 ,570 valet transactions and 1 ,409 public parking transactions. As a point of comparison, on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Art Basel 2015, prior to the Convention Center construction and when the Preferred Lot was available and heavily used by Art Basel January 2, 2019 Letter to Commission Art Week 2018 Transportation & Parking Initiatives Page 3 attendees, there were 636 public parking transactions in the CHG and no valet transactions. The City first implemented a parking program that included employee transportation in 2016. That year, Uber transportation cost was approximately $25,000, which was more than offset by $30,000 in estimated additional parking revenue. This year, the approximate cost for Lyft is $25,400. The increase in parking revenue for the CHG for the three (3) days of the Lyft program was determined by comparing transactions pre and post the employee transportation initiative (2015 vs. 2018). The increase of 1 ,409 public parking transactions generated parking revenues of $21,135. The 1,570 valet transactions generated an additional $7,850 in addition to the new negotiated valet contract minimum annual guarantee. Total revenue for the CHG more than covered the cost of Lyft transportation services. The fact that parking revenues offset Lyft expenses is only part of the story. The benefits of improved customer service, reduced valet travel miles, reduced vehicular congestion and increased pedestrian safety are invaluable. By all accounts, Art Basel was a success. As it relates to traffic, transportation and curb management, our success is highly attributable to the cooperation by the Police Department with the Parking and Transportation departments. If you should have any questions regarding transportation initiatives, please contact Jose Gonzalez, Transportation Director via email at josegonzalez@miamibeachfl.gov or at 305.673.7000, extension 6768. For questions regarding parking initiatives, please contact Saul Frances, Parking Director via email at saulfrances@miamibeachfl.gov or at 305.673.7000, extension 6483. Cc: Kathie G. Brooks, Assistant City Manager Mark Taxis, Assistant City Manager Susanne Torriente, Assistant City Manager Eric Carpenter, Assistant City Manager Marcia Monserrat, Chief of Staff/Office of the City Manager Tonya Daniels, Marketing and Communications Director Saul Frances, Parking Director ~ Jose R. Gonzalez, P.E., Transportation Director JLM/K~B~F/JRG Parking Department DATE: 1/2/19 TO: l<athie Brooks _,/ FROM: Saul Frances, Parking Director J)!f SUBJECT: LTC: Art Week 2018-Transportation and Parking Initiatives Routing ;J, l<athie Brooks I f For: (check the one that applies) Information Only Review and approval X City Manager's Signature Other Signature Other Comments: Return to: Saul Frances, Ext. 6483 I Date Needed: