It’s that time of year again.  The Ann Arbor Art Fairs will descend upon downtown Ann Arbor from Weds. July 16-Sat. July 19th.

Because the Art Fair’s close many downtown streets and parking prices increasing during this time, you might be looking for other commuting options during this time.

getDowntown has created a page on our website with info on Art Fair Commuting, from which streets will be closed, to what you need to know to get around.

Check it out here: www.getdowntown.org/resources/Commuting_during_Art_Fair.html

Good news! The DDA just put in a bunch more Moped and Motorcycle Parking Spaces in downtown, including some over at Catherine and Fourth, close to Kerrytown.

To view all of the Moped and Motorcycle Spaces, click here.

In this Sunday’s Ann Arbor News, Menlo Innovations CEO Richard Sheridan shares his thoughts on biking to work. Among his many observations:

• Biking to work helps him get in shape for the summer.
• Biking to work is a great way to take in all of the summer sights, like the Art Fair.
• Biking to work is cheaper than driving ($4 a gallon gas anyone?)

But he says it much better that I do. Read his Other Voices Piece in the News here.

There is a nice article today in the Ann Arbor News about all of the great new services for commuters to the downtown.

We touched on these services at last night’s Commuter Choices Reception. About 40 people attended this reception and we talked about all of the great commuting choices people have to the downtown as well as some new services coming to the area.

Here are some of the great resources we discussed:

Walk

• Want to walk downtown? Check out this great Walk Map produced by the DDA.
  • You can also get a paper copy at downtown parking structures and at the Chamber of Commerce Office at 115 W. Huron 3rd Floor.
  • This map is a great resource not only for it’s info on parking lots, bus stops, and the LINK route, but also because it has info on places to eat and shop in the downtown.
• Want to know how far you have to walk? Check out the Gmaps pedometer.
  • This nifty little program lets you see how long (in miles) in takes you to get from one place to another. Simply plug in an address, zoom in click “start recording” and double click on a starting point. Then keep clicking on points in the direction you want to travel until you reach your destination. Gmaps does the rest.
  • For those of you who run to work (or run home) you can also use MapMyRun, an online social networking site for runners.

Bike

• Get you Bike Maps here. We’ve got Bike Maps over here at the Chamber that show you preferred cycling routes.
• There are tons of other resources for cyclists on our website for cyclists. Check them out here.
• Ever wanted to put your bike on the bus. We can show you how.

Bus

• 5,400 strong and growing. That’s the number of go!passes we’ve sold so far to 388 downtown businesses.
• And not only do go!passes allow you to ride all AATA buses for free and park at Park and Ride Lots for free, they also come with DISCOUNTS TO DOWNTOWN BUSINESSES!
• The AATA is staring up a new Commuter Bus from Chelsea to Ann Arbor on May 15
• getDowntown is working with AATA and the DDA to provide a NightRide van service to downtown employees at work after 11:00pm.
  • This van would arrive at Fourth and Liberty every 45 minutes from 11:15am-1:30am and drop you off at your house (if you live on the West Side of Ann Arbor) or at the Pioneer Park and Ride Lot.
  • The service will be free for awhile to encourage people to use it and tell us what they think.
  • More info to come!

Carpool/Vanpool/Share a Ride

• getDowntown and the DDA are now offering preferential parking for carpools of 3 or more or vanpools in downtown parking structures. These spaces will be $125 each (divided among 3 people that’s about $42 each) and are guaranteed to be there for you. Want one? Email me and I’ll give you more details. I hope to get this up on the website soon.
• getDowntown and the DDA are working on getting Zipcars into the downtown. And things are moving forward. I just need to write a proposal to the DDA and they need to approve it. If the DDA approves the proposal, we should have 3 Zipcars in the downtown area by around June.
• The AATA is going to be introducing some new online ridesharing software in May. This software will allow people to go right on a website and find people to carpool or vanpool with instantly. Look for it soon!

And last, but not least, Curb Your Car Month! Stop reading this right now and sign up for the Commuter Challenge and Check out all of the great events.

Whew!

Want to know which parking structures have open spaces when looking for a place to park?  Brian Kerr just posted a little link that you can click on to find out.  That link will provide you with a CSV file (like an Excel File) of which spaces in downtown parking structures are open.  It’s updated every 20 minutes.

Brian provides this bit of information in response to the DDA, which lists the current number of spaces in a structure at any given time, updated every minute.

It’s also kind of interested to see when which structures are full, and when they are not.  If you’re into checking out that kind of thing . . .

I just got the following email today:

“I’m rather appalled by the plans for a 500 car parking garage next to the library. Wouldn’t $40 million be better spent supporting alternate forms of transportation? I wonder where the public outcry is. Have you guys got a stance on this?”

It occured to be that others of you out there might be wondering the same thing or might want to comment on the Library Lot parking structure.

Well here’s my response to the person above and to others:

At this time, getDowntown has not taken a stance on the Library Lot.  Most of the businesses I have talked to have expressed a strong need to have more parking downtown and they think that putting that parking underground would both allow there to be more parking and also not be as intrusive as an above ground parking structure.

Personally, I would love to see that kind of money invested in sustainable transportation rather than parking, but at this point, businesses feel there is a great need to have more parking for fear that if they don’t build this parking they are going to lose both customers and employers.

And at the same time the DDA is working with getDowntown and the AATA to provide more transit options to the downtown.  I wish this was more widely publicized because while there is parking going in downtown there are also initiatives to create evening transit service for employees, putting some Zip Cars in the downtown and more.

But I do think your concern is a valid one and I would encourage you to write a letter to the editor about this.  I would also encourage you to ask others to write letters and spread the message that we need to continue to think about sustainable transportation in addition to thinking about parking.

These are my present thoughts on the subject.  I would love to hear from others.

Here’s a typical downtown Ann Arbor scenario: you are a business paying hundreds (perhaps thousands) of dollars a month for parking spaces for your employees. You are concerned that the employees who walk, bike, and bus to work think this is unfair because they aren’t getting the same benefit.

And to top it all off, you’d like to encourage more of your employees to use alternative transportation.

What do you do?

Well, Inner Circle Media (go!pass participant and Ann Arbor Chamber member) found a great solution that saves them money and encourages their employees to use alternative transportation:

They hand out a parking stipend to their employees instead of just paying for parking.

getDowntown is proud to present Inner Circle Media with a Commuter-Friendly Business Award for coming up with a creative way to encourage their employees to walk, bike, bus and carpool to work.

I asked Catherine Hayes, from Inner Circle to describe their innovative idea:

1. What did you do about parking before you created the parking stipend idea?

We paid for parking spots for 2 of our 4 employees, and we were also on the waiting list for more parking spots from the City (for over a year). This wasn’t a very equitable solution, and was also incredibly expensive at $300/mo for only 2 spots.

2. When did you come up with the parking stipend idea?

This past fall.

3. Why did you come up with this idea?

We were trying to figure out an option that could be applied equally across all employees, regardless of whether they drive (one of our employees doesn’t have a car). We also wanted to figure out a way to save money and encourage alternative modes of transportation.

4. How does the parking stipend work?

We give everyone $50 with their first paycheck of the month. They can use this to pay for their own parking spot (city lots or private spots), parking structure fees or whatever they want. The idea is to use it for parking or transportation-related costs; however, if they already use the bus or another free or low-cost mode of transportation, then they can use the $50 for whatever they want.

5. What sort of successes have you had using a parking stipend (e.g. have you saved money, gotten people to take other modes of transit to get to work, etc.)?

We’re definitely saving money (we now spend $200/mo on a stipend for 4 employees, whereas previously we spent $300/mo on only 2 parking spots used by 2 employees), but more importantly for us we’re encouraging everyone to think about alternate modes of transportation. Out of the 6 people in our company, we’re currently only bringing 2 cars downtown at any given time. One of our employees uses a combination of bus and walking. Another uses the Park and Ride at Pioneer. And the other 2 share a privately-owned parking spot about 3 blocks from the office, and then carpool to work.

Carrie and I (the co-owners) also carpool to work, and frequently Carrie walks and I take the bus. The two of us share a parking spot that comes with the office in the alley behind us.

6. What do your employees think about this program?

So far they think it’s good. We discussed it with everyone before implementing to make sure there weren’t any big issues or concerns.

Meredith Lovelace, another Inner Circle employee, has this to say:
From an employee perspective, I think the stipend is an excellent idea–it spurred me to carpool, therefore one less car downtown, and it encourages us to take the bus more frequently.

7. What recommendations to you have for other companies thinking about doing this?

I would definitely recommend discussing the idea with your employees first to make sure everyone is on board and really understands the benefits for the business, community and environment. From an administrative perspective, it’s easy to implement and saves the hassle of managing multiple parking spots.

Do you want to be recognized as a Commuter-Friendly Business? Email nancy@annarborchamber.org and tell us what you are doing to encourage employees to use alternative transportation and you just might be our next awardee. You must be a downtown Ann Arbor business to be eligible for this award.

Past Commuter-Friendly Business Award Winners

□ Pure Visibility

Since we are well into winter commute season, I thought I’d share some thoughts and ideas:

1. The wintertime is a great time to start riding the bus. Think about it: It’s snowing or icy. Your car is buried. It’s kind of dangerous to drive. But you still want to work. This is a great time to take the bus. Not only is a bus safe, it’s also warm and you don’t have to worry about a spin out on the highway.But don’t just take my word for it. Here’s a story from go!pass user Shannon Tubb:

“How I became an avid go!pass user: I moved from Columbus OH to Ann Arbor MI in August 2003. I had some experience with the bus system in Columbus and also had driven in the winter before. However, there came a day that my low-to-the-ground car got stuck in the snow twice in one day.

I had already noticed the bus stop across the street from where I lived and began taking the bus on a more regular basis. I think around that time I had heard about the go!pass program and encouraged the non-profit business that I work for to sign up for it. What a deal: $5 a person for an entire year of riding the bus for free plus discounts at local merchants!

Not only has it saved me a bundle of money (I no longer own a car) and it’s better for the environment, I am less stressed without the hassle of driving or parking. I have time to read on my way to work and don’t have to worrying about winter driving. I enjoy having a few bus friends and regular drivers who make the trips comfortable and friendly

I recommend to anyone who may be skeptical to just try a different form of commuting just a few times each: like riding the bus or biking or walking.”

2. Want to burn off those extra holiday calories? Find ways to walk and bike to work. As I reported in the last getDowntown enewsletter walking just one mile burns around 150 calories. Biking burns around 36 calories a mile. So even walking or biking to work one day during the winter can help you avoid weight gain. Too far away to walk? Why not park at the Pioneer Park and Ride Lot and walk to work from there? Or maybe get off the bus a few stops early and walk or bike the rest of the way. There are lots of ways to do it and they are all good.

3. When you bike, walk or bus you save time cleaning off your car, warming it up, etc. Enough said.

4. And when days get really bad, telecommuting is even smarter because you can get your work done without having to risk your life on the highway. The Chamber has a VPN, which is secure network I can connect to over a wireless connection and access all of my work files from home. It’s great!

5. Busing, biking, walking, carpooling, vanpooling and telecommuting are cheaper than parking downtown. That means you have more money for holiday presents. Or for donating to your favorite charity. According to the SmartTrips Commuter Savings Calculator, you could save around $.73 cents a mile if you choose to bike, walk, bus, etc. instead of driving to work alone. And that doesn’t even include the cost of parking downtown!

Add your reasons in the Comments Section

FYI:

U-M CONSTRUCTION TRAFFIC UPDATE

-       Parking in SC41 allowed only on west side of lot

-       Parking spaces reduced along Bonisteel Blvd Dec. 11-14

-       E. University closed daily Dec. 13-16

-       Parking lots near Crisler Arena reduced Dec. 14-16

-       Two lanes of Huron at North Quad reduced Dec. 17-19

-       Keech Street expected to close this month

For details of each item, see below.  For a map of the impacted areas, please visit http://www.aec.bf.umich.edu/closures.html

PARKING IN SC41 ONLY ON WEST SIDE

        Since the original announcement Nov. 15 that SC41 on Hoover Street would be open to Orange permits, the lot has been reconfigured to allow parking only on the west side of the lot.  No Parking Signs have been posted along the east side of the lot.  This is necessary in order to allow adequate drive lane access.  We apologize for the confusion during this transition.

PARKING REDUCED ALONG BONISTEEL THIS WEEK

        Parking spaces along the north side of Bonisteel Boulevard between the Duderstadt Center and the Phoenix Memorial Lab will be closed to parkers Tuesday evening (Dec. 11) to 5 p.m. Dec. 14.  This closure is necessary in order to remove materials from the building.

EAST UNIVERSITY CLOSED DEC. 13-16

        East University Avenue between South University Avenue and Willard Street is scheduled to be closed daily 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday (Dec. 13-16).  This closure is necessary in order for a contractor to assemble a crane on a private development project across from the School of Education.  Detour signs will be posted.

 CRISLER LOTS CLOSED TO ACCOMMODATE WEEKEND COMMENCEMENT ACTIVITIES

        The parking lots around Crisler Arena (SC4, SC5, SC6 and SC7) will be closed to U-M business and personal vehicles 5 p.m. Friday (Dec. 14) to 6 p.m. Sunday (Dec. 16).  Crisler is the site of winter commencement activities this weekend and the parking areas are needed for graduates’ families and friends.  Weekend employees working in the nearby buildings are asked to park as close to their buildings as possible.

LANE CLOSURE ON HURON STREET NEXT WEEK

        The southern (eastbound) two lanes of Huron Street between South State Street and the Rackham Building are scheduled to be reduced 9 a.m. Dec. 17 through 3 p.m. Dec. 19.  One lane of traffic in each direction will be provided in the northern (westbound) two lanes.  This reduction is necessary in order to install new storm and sanitary sewer lines under the street.  Please find alternate routes during this time to reduce the congestion in the area.

KEECH STREET ANTICIPATED TO CLOSE THIS MONTH

        Keech Street between South Main and Greene streets is expected to be closed later this month to accommodate the Stadium Renovation and Expansion project.  This closure originally was announced to occur in November but further planning discussions delayed the implementation until December, though we don’t have a specific date.  The closure is expected to be in place until project completion in 2010.  Access to the two available parking lots (SC35/Buffalo Lot and SC2/behind ICLE) only will be available from Hoover Street.

Sure, this rates high on the Wonk-o-meeter, but this interview with Todd Litman, founder and Executive Director of the Victoria Transport Policy Institute and author of “Parking Management Best Practices,” is worth reading for anyone concerned about parking.

Among some of the gems in this interview are Litman’s “Common misconceptions about planning and parking”:

1. Abundant, free parking is always best for business.
2. It is best to adhere to conventional parking standards.
3. Americans (or Canadians, Italians, English, etc.) have a love affair with their cars. They will never give them up. They will never walk more than 100 steps from a parking space to a destination.
4. Parking management is “anti-car.”

Intrigued? Check out the interview here: Meet the Author