Parking Management

Parking management can be a powerful tool

This is especially true when used in conjunction with other travel demand management strategies—to influence travelers’ decisions about whether to drive alone, carpool, use transit, or use non-motorized travel modes. Peer communities such as Truckee and Park City have successfully implemented parking management techniques such as pricing and reservations to benefit the local and visitor experience and reduce roadway congestion.

Parking management is inherently complex in the Lake Tahoe region

This complexity results from the intersection of various jurisdictions and array of parking policies. The “Tourist Core” spans both California and Nevada between Stateline, NV, an unincorporated community in Douglas County, NV, and the City of South Lake Tahoe, CA. Despite the formation of bi-state agencies and interlocal agreements, public parking solutions have largely been ineffective. Existing public parking lots lack long-term operational support and investment and private parking areas are managed differently throughut the South Shore. Although the combination of public and private parking is complicated, there are solutions.

A public-private collaboration could make the parking experience more consistent and clearer to the public.

While there is no overnight transformative solution, to help initiate this process, a Parking Management Plan for the Satellite area is under way that seeks support for common goals and proposes a set of realistic and incremental steps and strategies to realize those goals over time. The Plan will also serve as a resource guide for the private sector, who operate the majority of parking supply in the Tourist Core. The City of South Lake Tahoe is undertaking a city-wide parking study. With these efforts combined and lessons learned from our neighbors in Truckee and Washoe county, numerous tools will be offered that the private sector can leverage to enhance customer service, address employee parking challenges, and streamline parking management.