🔒Hartford Parking Authority CEO says managed parking key to city’s future

At least four parking spots available in high-traffic areas at all times.

A downtown bus nexus rarely choked off by traffic congestion.

That’s how Hartford Parking Authority (HPA) chief executive Armindo “Mingo” Gomes sees the future of parking in downtown Hartford.

Gomes, who took over as HPA CEO at the beginning of last year, recently announced the quasi-public agency is doubling parking rates in the Capital City’s central core. But while raising revenue is a bonus for bumping the hourly parking rate from $1 to $2 in the 16-street area encompassing 480 parking spots, that’s not the primary motive, Gomes said.

“The intent was … to create space, alleviate a [little] bit of congestion, provide city … residents an opportunity to go downtown if they so desire during the day,” Gomes said. “So that if somebody wanted to come and grab something at Dunkin’ Donuts, or they wanted to grab something at Max Bibos, there is at least [a parking spot] that they can squeeze into.”

HPA expects to gross about $700,000 per year from raising parking rates in the heart of downtown, but the action represents only the first step in Gomes’ ultimate goal of changing parking behavior and access in Hartford.

The city currently has an ironic parking dilemma. With 80 percent more dedicated parking space than many similarly sized cities, according to UConn research, some argue Hartford has more than enough parking, but it is also often difficult to find streetside parking downtown to get access to local merchants.

Gomes said his ultimate goal at HPA is to ensure parking spots are easy to find for shoppers and downtown residents who have recently been filling up renovated apartment units. That can be achieved through a combination of increased public-transportation use and managed parking, which involves setting policies meant to get the greatest use out of the fewest parking spots as possible.

Aside from vocally supporting expanded public transportation, there isn’t much Gomes can do on that issue, as it’s beyond HPA’s purview. But he is working toward adopting a managed-parking model.

Doubling downtown Hartford street-parking rates is an admittedly small first step in that process, Gomes said, because it’s still cheaper to park at a meter all day than to park in most privately operated lots.

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” said Gomes. “If I went from $1-an-hour to $3-an-hour, we’d have an uproar.”

Gomes said he used Boston as a model for how to effectively better manage parking by increasing rates. Boston implemented a yearlong program in 2017 in which it adjusted meter rates in its high-traffic Back Bay and Seaport neighborhoods.

That led to an 11 percent increase in available metered spaces, and a 14 percent decrease in double parking in the Back Bay, program data show.

Gomes, who worked for LEGO Education’s head of operations in North America in Boston before taking the corner office at HPA, said he aims to replicate that parking program’s apparent success in Hartford.

But when it comes to managing parking in a way that would ease congestion downtown, and guarantee meter parking for residents and shoppers, there’s no single silver bullet, Gomes said, especially in Hartford, which has about 123,000 residents, but an additional 121,000 people who commute to work there every weekday.

Public transit key

Public transportation is another component to improving parking prospects, Gomes said. More people taking the CTrail’s Hartford Line or CTfastrack rapid transit bus system to work would mean fewer cars in need of spaces. While Hartford’s current public transportation system needs to expand its capacity so that people can easily reach most parts of Greater Hartford using it, Gomes said a further increase in downtown residential units could spark improvements.

“There is a skeleton already in place, as more people move in, as more merchants move in, my belief is that mass transit adapts,” Gomes said. “As residents increase in the city of Hartford, the need to have these alternatives is going to drive that change.”

Other transportation options like a bikeshare system would also be a positive, Gomes said, noting the increase in bike lanes already serve as encouragement for people to bike rather than drive.

To Jeffrey Tumlin, principal at San Francisco-based transportation planning firm Nelson/Nygaard, Gomes’ decision to raise meter parking rates makes sense, because it disincentivizes people to leave their cars parked on the street all day while they work. He also agrees that more people moving into the renovated buildings downtown should lead to expanded public transportation.

“An increase in Hartford’s density is essential for having functional public transportation,” Tumlin said.

In addition to new approaches, Gomes said HPA also needs to focus on maintaining systems and infrastructure it already has.

Garage parking can also reduce the number of cars parked on downtown streets, Gomes said. A parking garage being developed as part of the Downtown North project near Dunkin’ Donuts Park will provide drivers with another off-street option, and HPA just invested upwards of $400,000 in concrete work at the city-owned garage on the corner of Main and Trumbull streets.

“We have to make sure that all of those systems are operable, and that the garage is pleasant not only to look at, but that it’s pleasant to use,” Gomes said. “We just revamped all of the new gates, and the operating system with it so that we can remain current.”