There is some concern from Newton Centre merchants about a proposed 3-season bike corral in one space on Langley St. Not unexpected. Not unreasonable. They want to make sure that as many customers as possible have access to the prime parking spaces.
As I explained in my previous post, we’ll learn if a single space can be turned into more customers or not. I’m optimistic. The trial will tell.
But, there may be bigger gains to be had focusing on the use of the other 35 spaces : the 18 on the north side and the 17 on the south side of the street between Centre and Beacon.
Start by understanding that any customers coming to Newton Centre now was either willing to park in a non-prime location (likely in the triangle) or was lucky to get a prime Langley space. The only way you end up with more customers for Langley St. establishments is if we can attract a new group of customers: those who would shop or bank on the street if there was almost certainly an empty prime space. If this group exists and if we can assure prime spaces, business goes up.
I don’t know if the group exists. But, there is a straightforward way to assure regular vacancies in the prime spaces. Charge more for the prime spaces. (Wouldn’t hurt to make it easier to pay, too.) There is some price at which there will be 85% occupancy (5 or so of our prime Langley spaces empty). At that price, some people will not park on Langley at all, heading straight to cheaper parking in the triangle.
Since we already know that any existing customer who comes by car is already prepared to park in the triangle, sending some directly there is not going to make their experience worse. And, if we price to get 85% occupancy, we know that the folks parking on Langley are willing to do so. And,those who do park in the prime spaces, will likely do so for shorter, promoting turnover.
So, the merchants should appear tonight at Traffic Council and express their concern about the use of one of the 38 spaces on Langley. But, they should also give some serious thought to getting more out of the other 37.
For once I agree with Sean.
I’ve lived in Newton Centre since 1963. Driven a car since 1974. There is not now, nor has there ever been a significant “parking problem” in Newton Centre, [with the exception of long term commuter parking]. I think the bike coral is a fine idea, although I wouldn’t locate it in an existing parking space on Langley. Conceptually, I agree with higher parking rates, but would suggest implementation across the board. 25 cents for 15 minutes, 24 hours a day.
Why exactly do you want to have it on a parking spot? If I ride down with my kids, I either have to worry about them disrupting pedestrians on the sidewalk or disrupting and getting into traffic on the other side. Why not place it on some concrete pavers on the green. If someone is going to drive down and park in the triangle to walk over to stores, you can’t really believe bicyclists won’t use the corral because it’s too far from their destination, could you? I also very rarely see any shortage of parking in Newton Centre. It also seems hard to believe a corral will be used if the other bike racks are generally empty for so much of the time. Has anyone seen them used? That said, sure try it out. But away from the sidewalk or traffic would be the best.
Oh, by the way, just read the earlier post.. re: “Cause one driver to walk farther v. allow many cyclists to park closer. A fair swap.” Why is that a fair swap? Consider an 85 yr. old driver with a walker, or a mother of 3 young kids. Is it fair to have them walk farther when the bike rack could be put somewhere else? Someone who just bicycled a few miles could far more easily walk the distance to the green.