By Hutton Marshall

If there’s a traditional philosophy to improving parking, it’s that more parking spaces means more access to parking. The Uptown Community Parking District (UCPD), however, has recently incorporated a different approach into its work managing parking in Hillcrest: The best solution to parking problems might mean removing the need to park a car in the first place.

“The Uptown parking district is charged with managing parking supply, but we’re also managing demand,” said Elizabeth Hannon, UCPD’s chief operating officer. “So one of the ways we can manage demand is to have fewer people in their cars.”

This means creating new services to access the dense, urban neighborhood that remove the need to scour the streets for a free parking meter. A streetcar trolley, valet services and even free electric-drive shuttles are just a few services in the works so far. The new mindset and the creative solutions stemming from it have inspired the parking district to rebrand their public outreach efforts — previously called “Park Hillcrest” — to “Access Hillcrest.”

“As we look to hit our target market a little more, figuring out who is coming to Hillcrest and how are they getting here, we just thought the name Access Hillcrest made more sense — whether people are driving here and using our parking services, taking the trolley, walking, biking or using the bus system,” Hannon said.

The Park Hillcrest brand won’t entirely vanish though. UCPD will still maintain the Park Hillcrest App to provide real-time parking and trolley information.

One of UCPD’s most promising new projects is the Lunch Loop, a two-hour streetcar trolley ferrying lunch breakers from Hillcrest’s outskirts into its business core. Having launched in May, the Monday-through-Friday service now averages 50 riders a day, many from the local UC San Diego medical offices.

“The Lunch Loop has been a huge success and our staff, patients and visitors at UC San Diego Health really love it,” UCSD Assistant Director Zachary Schlagel said. “Beyond our cafeteria, there is a dearth of options, especially for our staff. Because of our location in the neighborhood, the closest restaurants are Jack in the Box and Panda Express, and those are at least 10 minutes away, walking distance.

“When some staff may only have 30 minutes, that doesn’t give them many options. This new shuttle service has enabled our staff to have quick and easy access to dozens of world class restaurants, stores and other services, like the post office, etc.”

The Lunch Loop streetcar falls under the responsibility of the UCPD, but promoting it among local businesses has been done by the Hillcrest Business Association. On its website, fabuloushillcrest.com, a “Lunch Loop Menu” lists over 50 businesses within two or three square blocks of a lunch loop stop. One business owner with several locations along the route said the trolley has been a welcome addition to the weekly lunch crowd.

“We love the new lunch trolley, it’s a very convenient and fun way for the hospital workers to get the Hillcrest and has totally increased our lunch business,” said Chris Shaw, whose company MO’s Universe operates four restaurants and bars in Hillcrest. “The trolley always has people on it.”

The Lunch Loop is just one of several plates Hannon and UCPD are spinning in Hillcrest. A $5 valet service — subsidized by UCDP and the businesses in closest proximity to it — also operates on weekends on Fifth Avenue.

“We find that a lot of folks are using the $5 valet to grab brunch at Hash House A Go-Go or Snooze, then hopping on the trolley over the farmers market, getting all their provisions for the week, then hopping on the trolley back over to where their car was valeted,” Hannon said.

Hannon also hopes to establish another valet service on the east side of Hillcrest, but a surface lot close enough for valet runners hasn’t yet been found.

The Lunch Loop trolley will continue operating until the program is reviewed in the fall, but so far it still only serves the central portion of the neighborhood. One reason is because the route needs to find more populated stops like UCSD. Hannon said she’s reaching out to two other big employers in the area, Scripps Mercy and the San Diego Unified School District.

Incorporating these businesses could also open up new routes servicing points as far east as Baja Betty’s and Heat Bar & Kitchen near University Avenue’s intersection with Park Boulevard, Hannon said. The increased services just need to show they are lowering parking demand.

“So as long as we’re alleviating parking impacts, that’s really the goal of how public funds should be used,” Hannon said.

The other limitation with the trolley, however, comes from its physical turning capabilities. Right now, the trolley’s route can’t go west of Fourth Avenue or south of University Avenue because the turns required are too sharp for it to handle. UCPD has yet another pilot project for this: a free, electric vehicle shuttle service through a company called Free Ride. The idea was piloted near the beginning of August, and another test run may be in the works soon.

“So becoming kind of a little transit operator here, one of the ideas is to have these lunch and evening trolley services pick people up, bring them into the core, perhaps around Seventh and University in front of Whole Foods, then have the electric vehicles run them out from there,” Hannon said.

Although accesshillcrest.com won’t be fully operational until September, the “Access Hillcrest” Facebook page is already up and running. Stay up to date with them and you could soon be taking part in one of their latest innovations.

—Hutton Marshall is a freelance writer and former editor of San Diego Uptown News. Contact him at [email protected].