parking polling memo
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Parking Polling Memo - The Parking Spot and The Parkside GroupTRANSCRIPT
To: Interested Parties From: The Parkside Group, LLC Date: September 21, 2015 Re: Airport Users Survey At the request of The Parking Spot, The Parkside Group conducted a poll to survey attitudes of New York City residents who use area airports. While the survey collected opinions about all three major area airports, and other transportation hubs, particular focus was placed upon LaGuardia Airport in light of its ongoing and planned renovations. As a proud and growing part of the communities around all three major New York area-‐airports, the Parking Spot believes that the views of New Yorkers who use the airports is of interest to policymakers and other key stakeholders. Key findings of this survey include: Grand Central Station and John F. Kennedy International Airport are the most popular transit hubs, while LaGuardia Airport is least popular. By a wide margin, most New York City air travelers give Excellent or Good ratings to Grand Central Station (net: +58%) and JFK Airport (net: +41%). The lowest rating was given to LaGuardia Airport, which just 4% of air travelers rated as Excellent, while a near majority rated it as Below Average or Poor (net: -‐20%).
Transportation Hub Excellent/Good
Average Below
Average/Poor
Net Rating Grand Central Station 62% 20% 4% +58% John F. Kennedy International Airport 53% 32% 12% +41% Newark Liberty Airport 30% 28% 9% +21% Penn Station 32% 29% 26% +6% Port Authority Bus Terminal 17% 24% 34% -‐17% LaGuardia Airport 23% 25% 43% -‐20% By a 2-‐1 margin, JFK is the first choice for NYC air travelers. When asked which airport they prefer flying out of, 56% of respondents chose JFK, while 28% chose LaGuardia, and 14% chose Newark. Among respondents who own or lease a car, the preference for JFK grew to 59%, while the
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preference for LaGuardia dropped to 25%. The preference for Newark remained unchanged among car owners. On a regional basis, the preference for JFK was largest amongst Brooklyn (79%) and Queens (71%) residents, while LaGuardia was most popular amongst Manhattan (47%) and Bronx (40%) residents. In Staten Island, 87% of respondents chose Newark. Many more respondents cited proximity, or the ease of getting to the airport (58%) as the reason for their preference compared to mass transit connections (11%) or that a preferred airline flies out of that airport (9%). There is a broad consensus that on-‐time performance, terminal amenities, and sufficient parking are important. Nearly all respondents (98%) agree that an airport’s record of getting its flights out on time, without delays are important. Other characteristics that travelers view as important to them are that an airport is modern, with first-‐rate dining and shopping options (67%) and that the airport has accessible and sufficient parking (62%). Regionally, clear majorities viewed parking as important in four of the five boroughs: Staten Island (88%), the Bronx (77%), Brooklyn (68%), and Queens (66%). Parking was also identified as important by respondents with annual incomes of less than $60,000 (70%), Latinos (80%), African-‐Americans (75%), and Asians (70%).
Most New Yorkers get to the airport via car services, but even more so at LaGuardia. At all three airports, a majority of travelers typically use car services or taxis to get to the airport, rather than driving or using mass transit. At JFK, 53% of respondents who have used that airport in the past 12 months typically get to the airport by taking a car service or taxi, while 10% use mass transit, and 10% drive their own cars. The numbers at Newark are similar, where 50% of respondents typically use car services or taxis, compared to 10% who typically use mass transit and 10% who drive. The outlier is LaGuardia, where 64% of city residents who use that airport typically get there via car service or taxi, while 9% use mass transit, and just 6% typically drive their own cars. Even among car owners, 65% typically get to LaGuardia via car service. This is consistent with data from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey indicating that, overall, less than 6% of car owners drive their own cars to the airport.1 In other words, the increased reliance upon car service/taxi usage by flyers travelling out of LaGuardia is not due to the preference for LaGuardia among Manhattan residents who do not own cars, rather it likely results from LaGuardia’s significantly lower number of parking spaces based upon originating enplanements.2 Overall, 25% of LaGuardia users said that if there were more parking spots and affordable long-‐term parking at LaGuardia, they would be more likely to drive themselves to the airport. 1 LaGuardia Airport CTB Redevelopment Program Environmental Assessment Draft, April 2014, Appendix A, Page A-‐25. 2 According to an analysis of on-‐airport parking availability conducted by Hunden Strategic Partners for The Parking Spot, although LaGuardia has more originating enplanements than JFK or Newark, LaGuardia has fewer parking stalls. LaGuardia has just 1.33 spots for every 1,000 originating enplanements, compared to 3.1 at JFK, and 4.7 at Newark Liberty.
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NYC air travelers know about Governor Cuomo’s planned renovation of LaGuardia and will be more likely to use the airport as a result. Citywide, 71% of respondents are familiar with Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed $4 Billion renovation of LaGuardia airport, including clear majorities among all sub-‐groups. Among travelers who have flown out of LaGuardia in the past 12 months, 77% of respondents are aware of the Governor’s proposal. Two out of three respondents said that they would be more likely to use LaGuardia once it is redesigned and improved, including strong majorities across all sub-‐groups. There is strong support for expanded parking facilities at the new LaGuardia airport. Overall, 66% of respondents believe that the newly rebuilt airport should have expanded parking facilities, with the strongest support voiced by Latinos (82%), African-‐Americans (79%) and residents of the Bronx (82%). A note about methodology. The poll was conducted August 20-‐25, 2015 among 600 air travelers living in New York City. At the 95% confidence level, the margin of error in the survey is 4.0%. The margin of error is higher among sub-‐groups. This survey was drawn from a sample of registered voters in with a history of voting and matched against airline frequent flyer data available from commercial databases. In addition, screening questions were employed to identify those voters in the sample who have taken at least one flight in the past twelve months out of LaGuardia, John F. Kennedy, or Newark Liberty airports. About The Parking Spot. Founded in 1998, The Parking Spot is the leading near-‐airport parking company in the United States with 36 locations at 21 airports. It currently operates five facilities at metro-‐New York airports, including three lots near Newark Liberty, and one each near LaGuardia and JFK. About The Parkside Group. Described as “New York’s leading full-‐service public affairs firm” by Campaigns & Elections magazine, the Parkside Group has been providing electoral, corporate, and advocacy clients with public relations, public affairs, government relations, campaign management, and advertising services for more than 15 years.