Number of Population

6,363

13, 635, 434

47,493

10,806

Senator DOMINICK. On page 4, you cite some examples in your statement as to why the downtown department stores have failed to show a gain commensurate with the population increase. I would suggest to you that you should add to that statement the fact that there are now shopping centers spread around the metropolitan area as a whole.

Mr. HEATH. We are well aware of the proliferation of the shoppers' dollar. We do feel, though, that with the dramatic increases in the Washington metropolitan area in population and I tied this back to a forecast of a consultant who had testified previously

Senator DOMINICK. Do you know if any effort has been made to put a requirement in the zoning law which would say that public buildings must have adequate parking facilities for the people that they will be putting into their buildings?

You said at one point that GSA has been turned down by the committees, but now I am talking about the District of Columbia.

Mr. HEATH. Well, I don't believe that the zoning regulations of the District of Columbia would be binding upon the Federal Government in their construction program.

Senator Dominick. But it would be on the District?

Mr. HEATH. Very frankly, the District's building program is very minor in the overall picture.

Senator DOMINICK. It is mostly the Federal Government, then, that is involved in this?

Mr. HEATH. Yes, sir.

Senator DOMINICK. From that point of view?

Mr. HEATH. Yes, sir.

Senator TYDINGS. Our next witness is Mr. Daniel J. Hanson, Deputy Director, Bureau of Traffic Engineering and Operations, District of Columbia Department of Highways and Traffic. Mr. Hanson, why don't we just introduce your statement into the record, and in order to save time, we might ask you to comment upon the findings of fact in section 1 of the proposed bill, S. 2769, and then continue? (The document referred to follows:)

STATEMENT BY DANIEL J. HANSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF TRAFFIC ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAYS AND TRAFFIC

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on S. 2769 relating to the establishment of parking facilities in the District of Columbia. Parking has been a key word in our traffic engineering dictionary for the last two decades.

Shortly after the end of World War II, the need for developing adequate parking spaces within urban areas became quite apparent. Since that time many solutions to the parking problem have taken place in numerous metropolitan areas in an effort to resolve this critical need. During the early 1950's it became apparent that the private parking industry could not fully meet this challenge by their actions alone. Thereafter, both private enterprise and municipal owned parking operations have tried their hand in this field.

Recognizing the obvious deficiencies in some private parking operations, many progressive cities have established either a municipal parking agency, a variety of parking boards and commissions or even a separate department of parking, Public administrators, traffic engineers, transportation specialists, lawyers and parking operators have all assumed responsible positions in various communities in directing these municipal parking programs. It is fully recognized that such important items as parking lot layout, parking garage design, construction methods and procedures, financing and general administration of municipal parking facilities require sound technical advice. This administrative leadership must have the total interests of the community as a whole as its primary goal.

57-450-66-8

A policy statement on parking developed by the National League of Cities, formerly knows as the American Municipal Association, has established parking as a municipal responsibility. This statement says in part: "Parking is primarily a municipal responsibility. For the welfare, safety and convenience of its citizens, and to insure its own successful future, each municipality must accept the responsibility for definite action which will result in the provision of adequate permanent parking facilities at reasonable rates."

In this respect, many excellent examples of municipal parking authorities and their resulting success can be cited. In fact, previous testimony at this hearing has already related to the successful experience in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Cincinnati. It should be noted that in a city such as Chicago onstreet parking in the central business district is almost nonexistent at this time. This, of course, is a highly desirable arrangement from a traffic movement standpoint. Such an arrangement would hardly have been possible without an aggressive offstreet parking program. In congested areas, properly located and efficiently operated off street parking facilities play an important part in providing for maximum efficiency in the street system.

One of the major advantages of a municipal parking program is that it can be developed on an overall citywide basis, utilizing all of the traffic planning resources of the community. Furthermore, other important areas of the city outside of downtown can more readily be included in the overall parking program. Some examples of such areas here in Washington would include Columbia Heights, Georgetown, Cleveland Park, and Chevy Chase.

As traffic engineer for Peoria, Ill., in the mid-1950's, I had the opportunity to develop a 400-car parking lot at the fringe of the downtown area along the bank of the Illinois River.

There was considerable opposition to this plan but our city fathers wisely went ahead with this publicly owned and operated parking facility. This facility filled an important parking void. In this particular case, the city-owned lot was used primarily by all-day parkers. This immediately opened up space for several hundred short-time parkers in the private parking facilities which were more centrally located within the central business district.

As a subsequent action several private parking operators converted their surface lots to parking decks in order to accommodate additional short-time parkers. The moral of this story is that both groups, private enterprise and municipal parking, can work together in providing a truly balanced parking program.

At the present time there are over 1,070 miles of streets in the District of Columbia. There are presently "no parking anytime" restrictions on 165 miles of these streets. An additional 230 miles of District streets have rush hour parking restrictions in effect. Several months ago a local newspaper editorial recommended that the only parking restrictions which should be in effect in downtown Washington is "no parking anytime." This is probably an oversimplification of the problem but the principle being suggested does have merit. The provision of adequate, efficiently operated off street parking costs far less than providing additional street capacity. Every indication points to the fact that there will be less onstreet parking in the District of Columbia in the future. We need to carefully examine our attitude toward tolerating onstreet parking where, in accordance with proper city planning, the full traffic-carrying capacity of the roadway is needed. In the past we have gone out of our way to accommodate numerous forms of street parking in the District of Columbia by using various special time-limited restrictions and other means of controlling curb parking. In reality, we should be extending our efforts in order to provide offstreet terminal facilities for these vehicles.

At the present time there are over 5,300 parking meters in operation in the District of Columbia. More than 3,000 of these meters are located in the central business district. It is obvious that many additional meters will be installed in the future in order to provide maximum efficiency and greater turnover at the curb in several outlying business areas. In fact, over 900 new meter locations will be provided this year. However, we are currently tolerating metered parking at some locations where traffic movement requirements presently dictate "no parking" restrictions.

As I am sure you can imagine, our Bureau of Traffic Engineering and Operations receives a large number of traffic proposals, suggestions, requests, and complaints. Most of these comments deal with the need for traffic control devices such as signs, signals, and markings. However, during the summer months a sizable percentage of these contacts relate to the lack of adequate parking facilities in our Nation's Capital.