Location
Chicago, IL
Client
The Illinois Medical District (IMD) Commission
Services
Transportation Planning
Parking
Outreach
Illinois Medical District Parking Management Study
The Illinois Medical District (IMD) is the largest urban medical district in the country; its 560-acre campus on the Near West Side of Chicago, IL hosts one of the world’s largest concentrations of major health care institutions. The IMD is governed by the Illinois Medical District Commission (IMDC), which wanted to develop a comprehensive parking approach, addressing recommendations made in its 2016 Master Plan. The Commission’s goals are to reduce parking demand, encourage the use of alternative transit modes, and support future growth across the campus.
Accordingly, Sam Schwartz staff completed a parking management study to address the high percentage of IMD’s land area being dedicated to parking, anticipated parking demand growth due to planned expansions, and a lack of coordination between the IMD’s institutions. To address these issues, Sam Schwartz identified facilities and policies driving the District’s parking demand issues, worked to educate and foster the coordination of IMD’s major institutions, and developed streamlined parking management and growth strategies.
A key recommendation was to form a Transportation Management Association, which would serve as a designated, singular party to address IMD’s parking demand issues and coordinate transportation management solutions. Key initiatives implemented from the plan include piloting emerging mobility technologies such as rideshare, initiating a high-frequency circulator shuttle within the district, increasing parking rates to better align with demand, and establishing an internal parking committee to discuss the potential future construction of a shared parking facility.