Parking Reports

Parking and Mobility Management Plan

Plan completed in 2009

Consultants: Walker Parking Consultants, UrbanTrans Consultants

Main Goals:

In June 2009, the project team was selected by the City of Wichita, Sedgwick County, and SMG to complete a parking and mobility management plan for Downtown Wichita. The primary purpose of this study was to determine operational and management-related alternatives and recommendations that will improve parking in Wichita’s urban center. The scope of services for this project consisted of four primary tasks:

Task 1: Review of existing information
Task 2: Development of parking and mobility management guiding principles
Task 3: Develop draft parking and mobility management plan
Task 4: Compile final parking and mobility project report

Task One of the project included an assessment of existing parking and transportation issues and conditions, determined primarily through reviews of available background materials (including a Downtown parking and mobility master plan completed in 2007) and stakeholder input meetings conducted in July 2009. The examination of existing conditions provided the baseline data/assumptions from which current and future parking and transportation management needs could be evaluated.

Task Two of the project included the development of downtown parking and mobility management guiding principles. A set of draft guiding principles was reviewed with designated downtown stakeholders in August 2009.

The final two phases of the project considered parking management alternatives to address current and future operations/management needs, as well as improve the utilization, efficiency, and effectiveness of existing parking resources.

The full plan is available for download, as well as supplemental appendices.

Parking and Mobility Master Plan

Plan completed in 2007

Consultants: Walker Parking Consultants

As the arena was completed, it was important to put into place a parking management system to oversee and provide coordination and monitoring of the City's parking assets. Walker Parking Consultants came to Wichita in 2007 to do a full Parking and Mobility Master Plan for Downtown Wichita. The plan recommended many areas that could use improvements to better serve the downtown district.

It was recommended that the city establish the Wichita Parking and Transportation Department (WPTD) to manage parking operations through an auxiliary enterprise fund separate from the municipality’s general fund. Priority of the department will be to gather the various parking pieces under their leadership and to develop the necessary marketing tools to educate the masses on parking in Wichita.

The establishment of a comprehensive wayfinding and signage program was suggested to guide visitors in and around Downtown, including parking. Coordination between private lot owners around the arena should begin to increase the number of known public parking areas for events. Further encouragement was given in establishing a parking partnership program to coordinate public parking in the future.

Finally, coordination of remote parking with shuttles was suggested. Based on the analysis, it was predicted that there would only be a handful of events requiring remote parking requiring shuttles. These events are limited to large events and medium events occurring on a weekday during the daytime hours.

Download the full Downtown Parking and Mobility Master Plan.