Like many municipalities, the Village of Oak Park, Illinois strives to provide safe and convenient parking for its business districts. The cost of providing those parking services, unfortunately, continues to increase. Higher fees can offset the expense increases but they also have the potential of deterring valuable customers to retail districts in nearby communities. Oak Park is a densely populated community with over 5,000 housing units per square mile. Many of its housing units were constructed prior to 1940 when the demand for automobile parking was not an important consideration in community planning. The Village has an overnight on-street parking program in designated areas to cope with the shortage of off-street parking. The fees associated with this permit program are used to purchase land for new off-street facilities. These fees must balance the need to supply parking with the willingness of the residents to pay the fee.

The Village hired CEG to review its parking operation and recommend rates for its parking assets. The rate review included parking fines, residential overnight permit fees, on-street meter fees, and fees for parking in its off-street facilities. The study commenced with two days of interviews with business, residential, and government representatives. These discussions provided valuable insight as to the goals and objectives of the stakeholders. The next step consisted of determining the utilization of existing parking assets. CEG staff measured the use of selected lots, on-street areas, and overnight residential districts. Following the surveys, the revenue and expenses from several years of the Village parking programs were carefully reviewed. Several CEG staff members have first-hand experience in operating parking facilities and this experience proved very useful in finding potential savings for the Village.

With the information gathered in the previous steps, the task of establishing rates began. The majority of stakeholders expressed a desire for a rate structure that would encourage turnover in retail areas. To meet this objective, a progressive rate structure was recommended with economical fees for parking durations of three hours or less and much higher fees for vehicles parking longer periods of time. Rates for parking meters would vary depending upon the area of town. Core retail districts would have a higher hourly rate to discourage repeat metering. The rate for overnight on-street parking would be adjusted every three years to reflect changes in property values. The report also recommended a series of steps for the improvement of services and the reduction of expenses.

The report is currently under review by Village Officials. Once approved, it will provide the foundation of the Village Parking System.