Page 9 - 2024 Annual Report

T R AN S PO R TAT I O N AN D I N FR A S T R U C T U R E

This year, the Bureau released a number of reports on transportation Bureau presented at length on its report Environmental (In)Justice:
and infrastructure in the City, covering a wide range of topics. From An Evaluation of Climate Impacts on Worcester Neighborhoods, which
commercial real estate to broadband to parking, the Bureau left no stone was originally released in November 2023, and was a 2024 Government
unturned. The first report in this series was the Spring 2024 Broadband Research Association award winner for “Most Distinguished Research.”
Update, which was an online dashboard using American Community Afterwards, the Bureau participated on a panel with other members of
Survey data to provide detailed, Census Tract level, information about the community to take questions from the audience.
internet access in Worcester and each of its neighbors. Building on the In July, the Bureau released two reports on parking in Worcester, as
Bureau’s past broadband work, it provides maps of households with and part of a multi-year effort on transportation with support from the
without internet access or computers, classifies households by type of Barr Foundation. The two parts are meant to be read together. The
broadband, and contains an update of subscribers to the now-defunct first, Feeding the Meter: Public Parking Usage in Worcester utilized
Affordable Connectivity Program. extensive data provided by the City’s Department of Transportation
The Bureau followed this dashboard in April 2024 with Appreciating and Mobility regarding on-street and public off-street parking usage.
the Value of Commercial Properties: The Significance of Commercial Using data going back to 2021, the report was able to demonstrate the
Real Estate. Commercial real estate is a key economic engine in increasing usage of the City’s Passport Parking app and subsequent
municipalities, providing space for jobs, manufactured inputs and increases in usage of the City’s public lots through both kiosk and app
outputs, and often serve as an important source of tax revenue for City usage in that time period. Feeding the Meter also reported on garage
government. In Worcester, the commercial property tax levy constituted use in the City. Worcester has five public garages downtown, and the
36.5% of the total tax levy in 2023, but was only 21% of citywide surface lot next to the library which uses the same payment system.
assessed property values. Compare this to Boston, where nearly 60% The report found that Major Taylor Garage was by far the most-used
of the tax levy was from commercial and industrial properties. The garage, whether by monthly pass holders or transient users. Federal
report also found that Worcester residents are largely employed in Plaza Garage was a close second. Surprisingly, McGrath Lot has more
management, business, science, and arts occupations; and the major monthly pass users than either Union Station or Worcester Common
industries that residents work in are educational services, and health Garage, and had more monthly transient users than either Pearl Elm or
care and social assistance. The report includes an interactive dashboard Union Station for at least 36 months in a row.
where readers can explore all of the City’s commercial property parcels The Bureau followed Feeding the Meter with Public Par(king):
and see their fiscal year 2023 assessed values and uses.
Worcester’s Past, Present, and Future of Parking. This report began
Soon after the release of the Bureau’s commercial property report, with an extensive history of parking in Worcester, going back to the
it had the opportunity to present and participate in the EcoTarium’s 1924 City Plan, demonstrating that attitudes towards parking have often
Community Forum on Environmental Justice in Worcester on April swung back and forth on a pendulum of too much to too little, especially
11. At the forum, located in the EcoTarium’s Alden Planetarium, the downtown. The clamor for parking has often led to strict and semi-strict
parking minimums, or requirements to build a certain number of parking

CHART 2: PERCENTAGE OF TAX LEVY PAID BY RESIDENTIAL AND
CIP PROPERTY TAXES, 2004–2023
SCAN FOR MORE:

Spring Feeding
2024 the Meter:
Broadband Public
Update Parking
Usage in
Worcester

Appreciating Public
the Value of Par(king):
Commercial Worcester’s
Properties Past,
Present, and
Future of
Parking
Source: Massachusetts Division of Local Services

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