Welcome: Purpose and Need of Pilot

Welcome to the goBerkeley SmartSpace Parking Pilot online open house!

The goBerkeley SmartSpace parking pilot project is exploring ways to reduce emissions and avoidable parking citations associated with the “two-hour shuffle,” improve parking availability, and provide more travel options for residents, employees, and visitors in the Southside/Telegraph and Elmwood neighborhoods.  

This Online Open House contains information about how parking is currently managed in the two pilot areas and presents changes that would be studied during the pilot period. Based on community engagement in fall 2021 and spring 2022, the City has developed new recommendations for the pilot program.  

In the Elmwood pilot area, we would implement a merchant employee parking pass program, and establish a merchant-supported transit pass program for employees. In the Southside/Telegraph pilot area, we would implement a smaller visitor paid parking program closer to the UC Campus, encourage local merchant employee parking in the City-owned Telegraph Channing Garage, and establish a merchant-supported transit pass program for employees. With City Council approval to proceed with the new recommendations, we will launch the program in summer 2022.  

Your input is essential to creating a successful project. We will continue to engage with the community over the course of the pilot to understand the effects of the new recommendations and make adjustments as needed. Thank you for your continued interest and participation.  

This pilot project is funded in part by a grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) under the Climate Initiatives Program, which seeks to identify effective ways of reducing transportation related greenhouse gas emissions.  

Map shows Southside/Telegraph project area and Elmwood project area. The Southside/Telegraph project area borders Bancroft Way on the north side, Piedmont Avenue on the East side, Parker Street on the South side, and Ellsworth Street on the West side. Streets within the project area include Channing Way, Durwant Avenue, Haste Street, Dwight Way, Blake Street, Parker Street, College Avenue, Bienvenue Avenue. Hillegass Avenue, Telegraph Avenue, and Dana Street. The Elmwood project area borders Stuart St. in the north, Piedmont in the East, Woolsey St. in the South and Regent St. in the West. Streets included in the project area include Russell Street, Ashby Avenue, Webster Street, College Avenue, Bienvenue Avenue, and Bateman Street.
A map displaying the parking pilot areas in the Southside/Telegraph and Elmwood neighborhoods.

Events

Thank you for those who joined our recent online community meetings! Continue to visit this website to stay updated.

Previously held meetings:

  • Elmwood Area: November 16, 2021
  • Southside/Telegraph Area: November 17, 2021
  • City of Berkeley Transportation Commission: November 18, 2021
  • Community-led Forum: December 8, 2021
  • Elmwood Area: December 15, 2021
  • Southside/Telegraph Area: December 16, 2021
  • Elmwood Area: April 27, 2022
  • Southside/Telegraph Area: April 28, 2022

For past meeting notes and more materials, see the Additional Resources section on this site.

Explore the pilot areas

The image carousels below present information about how visitor parking is currently managed in the two pilot areas.

Elmwood pilot area

Based on community concerns about the conceptual proposal, the city is evaluating alternate options for reducing the “two-hour shuffle” in the Elmwood pilot area, such as permits for some employees. Visitor paid parking will no longer be considered as an option in the Elmwood area as part of the SmartSpace pilot project. We are working with our grant funders to determine flexibility and/or a change in the scope to test alternatives to this concept.

Southside/Telegraph pilot area

How to use these image carousels

  • Click through the images to learn how parking is currently managed in the two pilot areas.
  • If you are on a device with a small screen, touch each image in the carousel and zoom in to see more information.

More Information

Our Promise

As part of the engagement process for this project, the City of Berkeley promises to:

  1. Inform the community about the process and how we will use their feedback develop the SmartSpace pilot.
  2. Collect ongoing feedback from the community both online and in person (if possible) throughout the project’s entirety.
  3. Use all community feedback collected through this engagement process to inform the development of the City’s parking policy, thus improving the City’s overall transportation network.
  4. Report back to the community on how we considered and used all feedback.

Our Committees

Additional Resources

Want to learn more about the pilot program? Please see below for more information and links to different resources:

Official documents and technical information:

Additional Resources

Want to learn more about the pilot program? Please see below for more information and links to different resources:

Official documents and technical information:

Project Timeline

The parking pilot project began in fall 2019 and will continue until 2023.

Timeline

Fall 2021/Winter 2022

Data collection, survey

Develop pilot with community input

Spring 2022

Seek approval for final pilot proposal

Fall 2022 – We are here

Project implementation

Winter 2022/23

Collect data & identify possible changes in Southside

Mid 2023

Final data collection & survey

Fall 2023

Develop final report for Council & grant funder

Present findings & next steps to Council

Late 2023

Project sunsets (if not extended)

Stay Connected

Sign up to receive email updates about the project, or send us a question or comment:

goBerkeley - 324-001-000 - comment form (dec 2021)

1. contact form