Improving the district’s parking experience is a priority for the WVIA. Here is a recap of our recent efforts:
LA Express Park
LA Express Park is an intelligent parking management system that fuses technology and demand-based pricing to optimize the parking experience. This new system will be piloted in Westwood and go into effect in the Spring of 2015. The new Express Park parking meters will also create a greater turnover of our parking inventory since sensors in the meters will eliminate the perpetual meter-feeding that can tie up a parking space for an entire day with the same vehicle. A smartphone application will enable pay-by-phone and the ability to extend time limits as well as send text alerts when meters are expiring. For more information on the LA Express Park pilot program, please visit www.laexpresspark.org.
Monthly Parkers in Broxton
The WBID is fortunate to have a public parking resource in its boundaries. The Broxton public parking structure has 365 spaces available, but 88 of these spaces are pre-sold to monthly parkers, essentially taking 24% of the total inventory off the market for customers of our businesses. The WVIA is actively lobbying LADOT to remove monthly parking from the Broxton structure to free up this valuable resource for transient parkers who want to take advantage of one of the last remaining two-hours free parking options in Los Angeles. We are currently working to meet with our partners in Council District 5 to meet this goal.
Handicap Placard Reform
In California, vehicles with handicap placards can park in a metered space all day, free of charge. In Westwood, this results in 42% of our on-street parking taken out of our inventory all day, every day. This means our visitors find less available parking, the City realizes less revenue, and people who truly require handicap parking for reasons of access, can’t find it. Other states have reformed their handicap parking so people of limited mobility retain free parking at meters, while those with greater mobility can pay for parking while retaining access. Westwood is working with other business improvement districts to lobby LADOT and our local and state government officials for change. LADOT has revised its policy on handicap placards and now shares our desire for reform.
ParkMe
The WVIA is pleased to partner with ParkMe, a local parking information and technology provider decided to make parking easier. The ParkMe database of parking locations, availability, and cost is available on the WVIA website, thewestwoodvillage.com, and on the mobile application, Westwood Village. This partnership means the most up-to-date parking information, a real-time ParkMe reservation system, and monthly parking options are now available to Westwood users. Whether you work full-time or part-time, there are many affordable monthly parking options to fit your needs as an employee who works in the Village. For a full list of daily and monthly parking, please visit our website. Please tell your customers to download our free app., and check our website to improve their parking experience,
www.thewestwoodvillage.com/where-to-park.
Wayfinding Signage
The WVIA has completed a comprehensive wayfinding program that will direct pedestrians and vehicles to places of interest, including parking. Our wayfinding program is nearly through the LADOT approval process and will soon move forward to earn the appropriate City department approvals. Our program is over a year in the making, and we regret the amount of time it has taken as it has moved through a necessary process. Fortunately, the end is in sight and we expect fabrication and installation of our signage in the spring of 2015.
