Aspen’s traffic and parking increase in summer 2023

Both the number of cars coming into Aspen and the city’s occupancy rate at the Rio Grande parking garage prove it might feel a bit more congested this year.

“This year trended downward to start the year in traffic counts, but May and June are trending towards higher traffic counts than 2022,” said Pete Rice, deputy city engineer for the Parking, Transportation and Engineering Departments. “Although counts are starting to trend a bit upward, traffic counts are well below the 1994 Record of Decision vehicle counts that are the maximum the city has designated.”

City records date from 1999 to present and indicate annual vehicle counts peaked in 2004 and 2005. Traffic volumes then declined for several years and dipped in 2008 to 2010 during the recession. Counts then began trending upward beginning in 2011 and peaking in 2015 before they leveled off. 

“The annual counts for 2021 through July 2023 are 14% above the 2020 levels but 2% below the 2019 (pre-COVID) levels for the same period,” added Rice.

July 4th week is the heaviest traffic week of the year. The highest traffic day in 2022 was July 8, at 26,676 vehicles. The highest day ever was July 3, 2003, when the daily count was recorded at 33,600 vehicles. This July’s highest numbers won’t be available for a few weeks.

The five-day work week is utilized for average daily traffic to exclude weekend use. This year, Inbound vehicles average 2,437 vehicles per day, and outbound vehicles average 2,393 vehicles per day. The weekend use is higher than the workday use. 

Parking

Parking in the downtown core occupancy is above the levels in 2022. The parking occupancy sets a goal to peak at 85% occupancy during the busiest periods, which is generally between the hours of noon-2 p.m. This percentage is based on compliant vehicles paid through the meters or applications. 

Occupancy for the downtown core is based on a metered system of payment and does not account for non-compliant vehicles, different permits, construction vehicles and service vehicles.

The city is in a current process to evaluate the parking system to improve the accuracy of parking in the downtown core. The project is in the final stages of the RFP process and will go to council for consent in August. This is part of a holistic look at traffic demand management that includes active transportation, mobility and parking management for the City of Aspen.

“This will have a community input portion to assure a system will meet the community values. We are very excited to start this process and better serve the customers,” said Rice.

Month occupancy percentage of parked vehicles

• May 2022: 33% 
• May 2023: 37% 
• June 2022: 58% 
• June 2023: 63% 

Rice noted for the garage specifically is that they currently have an RFP that is in the selection stages that addresses the occupancy of the garage.

“Essentially, we are looking at systems that will not only give us exact counts and time spent in the stall, but it will also be a great tool for the public to really understand where spaces that are open would be or if the garage is completely full. This will be a great benefit to the public and also provide information to better manage the garage,” he said.

Another piece of this is the review of the monthly parking garage pass. Through this study, it will also help finalize the RFP process which the city can use to develop a plan that utilizes the garage parking efficiently. 

“Generally, every year, the parking garage will be considered full from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the weekdays starting in June through mid-September. The public can also park in the residential neighborhood designated areas for $8 day during this peak period in the city,” he added.

Transit ridership is up.

Ridership for the Aspen system in 2022 was 896,967 people. Ridership on the local system increased 26% in 2022. Total ridership in 2022 remains 37% below the peak year in 2019 prior to COVID. 

Total ridership in 2023 is trending 15% more than 2022 but is not reaching the peak year ridership in 2019.