Mayor Kerry Thomson

Page last updated on May 5, 2025 at 5:21 pm

Background

The city is conducting a Parking Rate Study and Comprehensive Review of its downtown parking program. The city retained Walker Consultants to analyze the Bloomington Parking Services Division's operational and regulatory practices. The study will use parking utilization data, peer city studies, cost analysis, and stakeholder feedback to guide the steps forward.

This study includes Downtown Bloomington’s on-street parking, city-owned garages and parking lots, and residential zones. 

Why is this important?

Bloomington maintains thousands of parking spaces within numerous assets that support residents, businesses, visitors, employees, and students throughout Downtown. Parking is often the first and last impression users have of the area. Pricing includes the cost of parking for each type of product, citation fees, and other fees related to parking. Technology plays a key role in how users interact with the parking system, enforcement is conducted, and fees are collected. Consideration of economic and social impacts for each of the related pieces that go into the overall parking strategy are important considerations. This study is intended to identify current operational practices and policies and recommend process improvement strategies. 

Tasks & Methodology

  • Rate Analysis
    • Observe parking and mobility operations and document parking rates for city-owned parking
    • Review fees for public parking and residential permits
    • Evaluate if current rates promote desired distribution of short and long term parkers
  • Parking Policies
    • Review current policies and procedures specified in Title 15 of the City’s municipal code
      • Parking rates (meters, off-street, monthly & residential permits)
      • Citation fee structure, payment collection, penalty and appeals process
      • Administrative process for resident permits
      • Appeals process
      • Benchmarking to a group of peer cities
  • Parking Technology
    • Review current parking equipment used for on-street and off-street parking
    • Provide a plan to replace outdated equipment
    • Explore technologies that reduce friction points, increase payment options, and enhance performance

Public Engagement

Walker will host small group public outreach meetings starting in early summer to discuss downtown parking, parking fees, policy, technology, opportunities, and goals. These meetings will include residents, business owners, students, and city staff. 

We’d love to hear from you! If you are interested in attending a meeting to share your thoughts, please get in touch with Michelle Wahl, Parking Services Director at michelle.wahl@bloomington.in.gov.   A parking survey will be coming out in May, we are encouraging everyone to please provide us your feedback.   Take our survey, participate in an online survey !  Survey will close Tuesday, May 27th. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 5, 2025

 For more information, please contact:

Michelle Wahl, Parking Services Director

michelle.wahl@bloomington.in.gov or 812-349-3436

Desiree DeMolina, Communications Director, Office of the Mayor

comms@bloomington.in.gov or 812-349-3406

City of Bloomington Launches Comprehensive Parking Study to Evaluate Parking Policies, Rates, Operations and Technology

Bloomington, Ind. — The City of Bloomington has partnered with Walker Consultants to conduct a citywide parking review focused on how effectively Bloomington’s parking systems serve its workers, visitors and neighborhoods.

The study aims to better understand how the City’s systems are working, how they are not and how they can evolve to meet everyday needs. It will closely examine the logistics and rates of on-street parking, residential zones, garages, and surface lots managed by the City. The City of Bloomington routinely conducts parking studies as part of an ongoing evaluation and management of its parking systems.

Walker will obtain benchmarks from comparably sized cities to make informed recommendations to the Parking Services Division intended to strengthen customer service, inclusion and accessibility, and equity and fairness.

Community members are invited to participate in an online survey that will help inform the review’s final recommendations, which are expected to be shared later this year. The survey will accept input through May 27.

“We want a city where the logistics of parking don’t add frustration to people’s lives,” said Michelle Wahl, City of Bloomington parking services director. “This study is about building systems that reflect how Bloomington is growing, making it easier for people to live, work and connect across our community.”

In addition to evaluating current operations, the study will examine the broader economic and social impacts of Bloomington’s overall parking strategy, including how parking policies affect neighborhood livability, business accessibility and transportation equity.

While frequently overlooked, parking contributes meaningfully to the City’s financial stability and supports a wide range of public functions.

In 2024, parking citations generated more than $1.61 million in revenue for the City of Bloomington, compared to $1.73 million in 2023. These funds are directed into the City’s General Fund, where they help support critical public services, delivery and general municipal government operations. Parking enforcement not only ensures parking turnover and accessibility but also contributes to the City’s ability to maintain operations without relying solely on additional tax revenue.

For more information, contact Michelle Wahl at michelle.wahl@bloomington.in.gov or 812-349-3436.

About Walker Consultants
The Walker Consultant team includes parking professionals with strong municipal parking operations backgrounds who have served more than 1,000 municipalities and bring solutions from hundreds of parking studies for similarly-sized cities.

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Timeline

  • Walker began the study in March 2025, meeting with internal stakeholders and observing the existing conditions
  • Walker documentation request
  • PR Release and survey will be released, Monday, May 5, 2025 - Tuesday, May 27, 2025
  • Stakeholder meetings will be scheduled for mid May 2025
  • Progress will be continually be updated on this webpage
  • Draft report is anticipated in late summer/early fall 2025

Materials

Past Studies

  • 2018 Desman Study
  • 2012 Walker Study