PT's Parking Blog

They Got Me…..

As you may know, I've been running an experiment. I have been either not paying my on street parking or overstaying when I have been paying. The experiment is to prove that less than 10% of parking violations are ever ticketed. I will admit I have had a few close calls, one being a few weeks ago when I pulled out of an expired meter just as the officer rounded the corner, ink dripping out of his printer.

However, it all caught up with me on Saturday. The city of Beverly Hills (where, by the way, I am interviewing tomorrow their parking folks) cited me for overstaying a meter. I did in fact put money in it but stayed about seven minutes past the due time. The ticket was written three minutes after it clicked to "Validation." A few hours later, R and I went to see "Sherlock Holmes" in downtown Culver City. I parked in a slot in the garage that said "one hour only." The Words "I'm sure they don't check" ringing in my ears." When we returned three hours later, with a validated ticket I pulled on entrance, there was a citation on my car. Yes, they got me. Culver City does a good job "chalking". Good for them. And good for Beverly Hills, too. I may have taken a while for them to get me, but they did.

I have paid both $50 fines and but still feel good about the experiment. In Beverly Hills I park on the street where I got the ticket twice a week and have done so for the past year. (Gym). This is the first citation I have received even though there has not been a time that I wasn't in some type of violation when I returned to my car.

As for my former home Culver City, I'm not quite so bad. I park there about three times a month, and when I'm in the garage its usually after six (no time limit then.) However on street I have parked probably a dozen times in the last year and in virtually every case, the meter was in violation when I returned to the car. I would suggest that this still falls well within my 10% rule.

I understand that enforcement isn't easy. Huge turnover, thick traffic, the vagaries of the law (is there a handicapped placard or not), and frankly often the kindness of the enforcement staff. However, if we are ever to get parking under control, we have to figure out how to deal with scofflaws like me.

In Beverly Hills, my gym has a deal with a lot that is in fact closer to their door than where I usually park on street and the cost is less than an hour's parking on street. I'm just too lazy to use it. In Culver City, all I had to do was drive up one story and I would have had unlimited parking. Once again, lazy tells the tale.

My guess is that BH has had its last chance at me, the $50 fine most likely has me moving into the lot or filling the meter with enough quarters (or in this case using my credit card) to cover the hour and 15 minutes I'm away. As for Culver City – the fine folks at IPD designed wonderful parking garages a half a block from the restaurants and theaters and certainly I can make it up one flight of stairs,,, and I will.

JVH

 

 

Yes, Dan, It’s for real

Reader Dan is concerned about this article, in USA Today.

It says that a shopping mall in a provincial capital in China is opening a parking lot, solely for women. It will have wider spaces, more lighting, female parking guides and "Cute cartoon pictures" just for women. The local mall says that insurance data (Chinese, I believe) shows that women cause 50% more finder benders and other accidents in garages than do their male counterparts.

I have seen parking spaces reserved for pregnant women and women with a herd of small children and think that if the mall or store wants to attract these shoppers, more power to them. If the ease of parking close in helps a soon to be mom or a mom with lots of little ones, and entices them to shop there, what a great marketing plan.

I will say, however, that having entire garages for women should set the NOW folks on fire. Are the Chinese admitting that women don't drive as well as men? I would think that this approach should be done at one's peril.

JVH

Parking Feeds my Family

Sometimes we lost track of just where the money comes from. If you work for the parking department of a city or university, your salary comes from the people who park in the lots you administer. Even when parking is "free" the money comes from the folks who drive the cars through fees, fines, and the like.

If you are the parking administrator for a shopping center or large company or development, it is likewise. If you owner a parking operation company or work for one, it's exactly the same. The folks who drive in leave their cars in your care pay you salary and for that Christmas turkey you get every year.

The folks who provide the garages, consulting, systems and equipment that enable all of the above to do their jobs are in the same boat. They receive payment from monies that are collected, in one way or another, from those who park their cars while going about other business.

And last of all, we here at Parking Today are paid by those who promote their products in our pages, and that money all comes from only one place, parking.

So thanks to all you who drive and park and pay for the privilege to put your cars in our care - without you, this 15 billion dollar industry that employees over half a million people would not exist. So when you eat that Christmas feast, or watch the bowl games or Rose Parade on that big screen TV, remember just where it came from.

Maybe when we fight the crowds on the day after Christmas to return and exchange those gifts, give a nod or a smile to all those parked around you. They will be confused, but you won't. You know from wince your holiday came.

JVH

A Christmas Gift for JVH

The worm is starting to turn. This article send in by Mark tells the tale.

Frequent readers know that I believe that free parking makes the parking issues in an area worse, not better. The article explains this in detail. In Providence, (RI?) they provide "free" parking during the holidays. The merchants are now complaining that their customers have no place to park. Seems the government workers in the area are parking on street and taking the spaces all day. Well, DUH.

What the hell did they expect to happen? It feels so good to be proven correct. (It happens so seldom.)

JVH

Last minute stocking stuffer – A parking app for your iphone/Blackberry

This is a great app – and thanks to Bobra at POM now you can know all about it –

You can set it up with the rules of the places your normal park (number of hours, times of day you need to pay, etc) and then when you park, you simply fire it up and it will remind you when (and where by GPS), plus you can take a picture of your car, or whatever. Then forget about it. It will alarm in enough time for you to get back to move your car or, horrors of horrors, feed the meter. And it's all for $2.99.

Happy Christmas

JVH

Aren’t Christmas Emails just too easy?

Ok, I'm guilty – I just sent out a Christmas email to a select couple of hundred in my address book. Sigh – it was easy. A few choice words, a click of the mouse and it's done. And the guilt of not having made contact with folks before Christmas is gone. Poof.

Does a Christmas greeting have any less meaning if it's given with high tech efficiency or if it is a handshake or a hug or a quiet word over the phone? My feeling is that it's now how the message is sent, but rather why.

If we call the marketing department and give an instruction something like – Send out something to all our clients and make is look good and be sure it doesn't offend anyone – and then forget about it, most likely the reason for sending the message is not exactly what the mystery and magic of this season is all about.

However if you think about your message, and think about the names of the people that are going to receive it, perhaps it begins to take on the meaning you want it to have.

Back in the days of yore, when we sent Christmas Cards, it was a tad more difficult (buy the cards or get them printed by the marketing department, hand address, put on stamps and mail early enough so the USPS could get them delivered.) But, frankly, there is little difference between a card with a snow scene or a Santa and your company name printed inside, and an email with a Santa or a snow scene on it. We do it because we are supposed to, not because we want to.

My message was this:

It's been a challenging year. We each have our own lists of troubles and pains, sadness and despair. No need to repeat them here. My guess is that if we compare lists, they will be quite similar.

The message of Christmas is one of new birth, of beginning, of love and peace. When we go back to our normal lives in a week or so, we have two choices. We can be mired in the past, in pain, in fear, in trouble. Or we can look forward with renewed vigor and carry the messages of this magical season with us as we go about our lives.

Hmmmm, let me see -- Dwell on the past, which we cannot change or move ahead with optimism and excitement about what is to come and take control of our lives where we can affect the future. Doesn't seem like a difficult choice to me.

However, we will each do what we do. Some will make the first choice and lead mundane, miserable lives. Others will make the second and have a joyous, vibrant, and successful New Year. I pray you choose wisely.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and good wishes for the best of times for 2010.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night

JVH

Marty Stein Resigns at NPA

NPA members received this email from NPA Chair Herb Anderson this morning:
 

The National Parking Association (NPA) announced today that its President, Martin L. "Marty" Stein, will leave the organization effective December 31, 2009, to pursue other career opportunities.

   

"For the past ten years, it has been both an honor and a privilege to serve as President of the NPA," said Stein. "As I enter a new phase of my life, I wish to thank the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee for the opportunity, their confidence, and friendship."

   

NPA Chairman Herb Anderson thanked Stein for his service: "We were fortunate to have Marty take the reins and lead us to where we are today; a strong viable association leading the parking industry. We appreciate and thank him for ten years of dedication and wish him all the best in future endeavors."

   

"NPA will install interim leadership for the organization and conduct a nationwide search for a new President," said Anderson. "There will be absolutely no interruption in service to our members or the public during this transition." 

Jury Duty Part Deux

It's over, the verdict is in. Yes, he was guilty. It took us about two days to get to the bottom of it. The problem is it seems to me that we are so used to Law and Order, LA Law (if you are that old), CSI and the like that when reality strikes, we get all perturbed.

The jury spent a lot of time complaining on how little information we had, and what a poor job the police, crime lab, and prosecutors did. After all we had no fingerprints, no DNA, no expert witnesses, no trace evidence. All we had was a 911 tape, and conflicting testimony from the victim, his brother, his sister in law, his cousin, his neighbor, and the defendant. The arresting officer added little to the mix, as did the defense's private detective.

It was up to us to take all that, determine, with very little to go on, just who was lying. And we did.

We decided that there were 'elements' of truth in all the stories and a lot of story telling going on, on all sides. However what few actual facts we had (a bullet hole in the ceiling, for instance) told us that obviously something did happen. We just had to use common sense, and the requirements of the law. We must have read and reread the Judge's instructions a dozen times.

In the end of the seven counts, we found not guilty on two (the most serious) and guilty on five. He will do some time, we were told, and rightly so.

We met with the prosecutor and the defense attorney after the verdict was read. They were open and happy to talk about all the things we couldn't know. Both agreed with the verdict. The defense attorney was realistic. "My client was stupid. He tried to represent himself for the first eight months of pre trial, then the judge convinced him and I got the case about six weeks ago. Heh. It was obvious the first three stories told to the police were not true. I convinced him to tell the truth. Had he done so in the beginning my guess is that the police and prosecutors would have agreed on a much lesser charge. As it stands he talked himself into prison. Stupid. People who represent themselves have idiots as clients."

It was a good experience. As someone commented: "How would you like to be tried by a jury that was made up of all the people who couldn't figure out a way to get out of jury duty."

JVH

I’m Stunned by this one

As Mark points out – This can't be right:

"First off, contrary to a commonly held perception among traders, shoppers were not highly dissatisfied with the quality of parking in the town centre.  Spokesman David McGuigan said: "In fact, the single most influential reason for not visiting Hexham was seen to lie in its poorer shopping offer than elsewhere."

Read all about it here.

Sure enough. They did a survey and low and behold, the reason people didn't want to shop in this fair community was not because there was poor parking, they actually felt the parking was OK – It was because the shops were not up to snuff.

As you know, I have been saying this for years. There simply is no substitute for good marketing, good products, and great shops and stores. If you build it, they will come.

JVH

Is Automated Parking Beginning to Stir? 15 Garages in the US….

Is Automated Parking Beginning to Stir? 15 Garages in the US….

There has been some activity over at the Automated and Mechanical Parking Association. After a couple of dormant years, the group has had a conference call meeting and is moving to assist in code changes that could help move the projects forward here in the US. All to the good.

Here's a blog entry over at Parking World that tells about Robotic's success in Dubai. It's not a pipe dream, I have seen it, in person. It is working and the other Middle East projects (over 1000 cars) noted is nearly completed. I have seen that one, too. There is a third that has begun construction. Take a minute to read Pete's input. A lot is going on.

We have an article by Don Monahan in January's PT that lists all the current systems in the US, both under construction and completed. Check it out. Not too many moons ago you could count all the automated systems here on one hand. Now there are nine completed and six under construction. WOW!

Now if we could only put Hoboken behind us. The manufacturers are still squabbling in a who did who said who stole who failed conversation about the first automated garage in the US. It seems to me that the best thing that can happen is that we all move on. The time has come for those who think that they are "right" to keep their council and one with life. Every continuing negative word about the Hoboken project hurts the entire industry.

JVH

Jury Duty

I'm on it. And we are deliberating. The Judge says we can't say anything so I won't, but check back in a few and I will fill you in.

One comment for all those who express shock and horror at being called to sit on a jury. I was at the home of a very wealthy friend last night. He was moaning about my service on the jury. How terrible, horrible. I told him that it was interesting and would take less than a week. He grumbled that if it was OK with me, then so be it but inferred he would do anything rather than sit on a jury. I told him that the judge pointed out that;

"Now that there is no draft, we are asked as Americans to do only two things for our country, pay taxes and sit on a jury. Seems like a small thing in exchange for all the wonders we enjoy."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

JVH

But – the “Parking Rock Star” doesn’t buy into parking “APPS”

They are emerging. You can get apps to help you find parking spaces. I commented below on the problem of getting parking information on your cell/smart phone. (You can't look at it and drive safely).

There are apps to help you find a parking meter in Manhattan that is broken (you can park free for an hour) and others that give you information about garages near a certain address. Whooppie.

So a local blogger asked Don Shoup what he thought about all this. His comment was classic:

"I guess that I'm skeptical about all these apps," Shoup said, "in part because I think the main problem is mispricing of curb parking rather than any lack of information."

You can check out the entire article here

Don's point is that if you set the rates properly, there will always be enough space. Set the rates so that there is always one space or so available per block space. The problem of finding parking goes away. If people don't want to pay that price, they can quickly find an off street cheaper space, or simply not drive into the area.

I don't understand why this is so difficult to understand. Let the market do its job. Proper Pricing will allow spaces to be available. All the information technology on the planet won't help if there are no spaces available.

There's along article in the local paper that describes Santa Monica's proposed solution to its downtown parking dearth. They are setting close in parking higher to entice people to park in cheaper lots on the edge of town and use shuttles (or their feet) to get to the downtown shopping area.

The author is high on walking. He says folks should walk to make the planet green and for their own health. If they park five or six blocks from the Promenade in SM, they can walk, or if they like take a cheap shuttle. If they want to park nearby, they can pay the increased rates. Problem solved.

Technology doesn't solve parking problems, the good old free market does.

Thanks to Josh and Sandra

JVH

I can get parking info on my cell phone, I just can’t look at it.

Correspondent Mark points out that more and more technology is driving information to our cell phones. Fair Enough. But laws are being passed that will not allow us to use our cell phones in our cars. Interesting point.

I have a Blue Tooth interface in my car so I can talk on the phone 'hands free." This meets the requirement of the State of California. However if I want to check the screen on my smart phone to find traffic information or information on where to park (see this article) I can do so with impunity.

But that is most likely going to go away. Let's face it texting and emailing and reading text messages and emails when driving is just as dangerous (if not more so) than talking on a cell phone held up to one's ear. It's only a short matter of time until our cells will be locked away during driving, thus removing the convenience of being able to find parking spaces that are vacant in our area.

The concept of knowing where a phone is (GPS) and then being able to direct a driver to available parking spaces is dramatic. Not only does it add to convenience, but it also stops cruising, lowers emissions, and makes the world a much better place.

Then that good old law of unintended consequences kicks in. Technology in one place provides great service, but it can't be used in another because of dangers imposed.

As Mark says,,,

Just Saying.

JVH

Hoboken in the News again – Former Head of Parking Utility Accused of Stealing $600K

I received this release by the New Jersey Department of Criminal Justice from a correspondent. I reprint it here (edited) because it's just so outrageous. While he was head of Hoboken's Parking Utility, John Corea allegedly conspired to steal one heck of a lot of money from the parking meters. He did it by working with the contractor that collected the money from the meters. The contractor (who turned state's evidence to get a reduced sentence) told Corea how much his folks had collected, and Corea would then tell him how much to run through his system and how much to keep to split with Corea.

    Read how they did it. The contractor had another business, arcade machines, and he would flush the Hoboken coins through with the money from the arcade machines, thus laundering the money. Neat, huh.

    The total amount stolen was well over a million bucks. The discrepancy was found during an independent audit.

    Does the name Corea ring a bell? He was head of the Parking Utility when the brouhaha went down with Robotic Parking and the issues with the automatic garage. If you remember, it was never really clear just what had happened, and everyone was suing everyone during that time.

    It makes one wonder just what was going on in Sinatra's home town during that fiasco. I was reminded of my words, written at that time, to add some context to Gerhard Haag and his Robotic Parking's situation:

 

"What is most sad is that Gerhard Haag was the only manufacturer that put his money where his mouth is. He built a test system in Ohio. He showed people how it would work. And he got the deal. Of course, he didn't know how to work in an environment like Hoboken. Power, influence, politics, money and perhaps a bit of rubbing right up against the law were involved. Not a good place to cut your teeth on a new technology and in a country where the customs are foreign."

    That was written in December of 2005. Damn I'm good…

JVH

FORMER DIRECTOR OF HOBOKEN PARKING UTILITY CHARGEDWITH CONSPIRING WITH CONTRACTOR TO STEAL MORE THAN $600,000 IN PARKING METER FUNDS FROM CITY OF HOBOKEN

TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that John P. Corea, former director of the Hoboken Parking Utility, was indicted today on charges that he conspired to steal more than $600,000 in parking meter revenue that he allegedly split with a Toms River contractor whose company was hired by the City of Hoboken to collect coins from city parking meters.

Corea allegedly used his official position to steer three separate no-bid contracts to United Textile Fabricators in November 2005 to collect the coins, count and manage them, and maintain the city's parking meters. United Textile Fabricators is a coin-operated arcade game manufacturer.

After an audit in 2007 uncovered parking revenue shortfalls, Petaccio and his company returned approximately $575,000 to the city. However, Petaccio admitted in pleading guilty that he conspired with an official of the City of Hoboken – whom he did not name in court but had previously identified to investigators – to divert an additional sum, in excess of $600,000, which was never reported to the city and which the two men split. It is alleged that Corea is the official who conspired with Petaccio and split the money with him.

"This is an outrageous abuse of public trust," said Attorney General Milgram. "The indictment charges that Corea used his position as director of the Hoboken Parking Utility to conspire with Petaccio in the theft of more than $600,000 in parking meter revenue that should have been used for the benefit of the city and its residents."

"Corea used his authority to steer three no-bid contracts to Petaccio, who admitted that he stole more than $1.1 million from the city, including funds in excess of $600,000 that he allegedly split with Corea," Milgram added.

It is alleged that while Corea was director of the Hoboken Parking Utility, he improperly

solicited Petaccio and United Textile Fabricators LLC and subsequently used his official position to assist the company in obtaining the three no-bid contracts. Each contract was for approximately $27,000 per year, just under the relevant statutory threshold at the time of $29,000, above which public bidding would have been required, allowing other companies to compete for the work.

Between June 2005 and April 2008, Corea allegedly conspired with the company to steal and launder more than $600,000 in parking meter revenues, while continuing to use his official position to assist United Textile Fabricators and conceal its illicit activities. The company's contracts with the city were effectively terminated by April 2008. The principal business of United Textile Fabricators is the manufacture, sale and leasing of arcade crane games, coin-operated machines with a crane-like claw that the player uses to try to grab a toy. The company installs its arcade machines in businesses throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. The proceeds from the machines, which are shared with the company's clients, are collected by company employees and transported to the company's warehouse in Toms River where they are counted and bagged for deposit into the company's main operating account at a local bank.

The state's investigation determined that coins from Hoboken's parking meters were commingled with coins from the company's arcade machines and deposited in one lump sum into the company's operating account, concealing the source and ownership of the funds.. The two men allegedly worked out a scheme in which Petaccio reported to Corea the amount of coins collected each day, and Corea would tell him how much to put aside as the "take" to be split between them.

I get my comeuppance, sort of…

I paint with a very broad brush and sometimes I overreach. Brandy in the city of Manchester NH has taken umbrage with my comment that there is nothing that the private sector can't do better than the government, except perhaps fight a war. I don't want her comments to be lost, so I repeat them here:

OK, I take exception to the blanket accusation that government doesn't have their priorities straight. You're probably right when it comes to a lot of governmental agencies, but not all by any means. I represent one of those "government" agencies and Manchester as well as many other municipalities have taken great strides to increase efficiency. We've introduced online payments (we eat the processing fees because we're not stupid and we know increased online payments mean less face-to-face time and ergo less expense), automated garage payments, multi-space meters, In Vehicle parking meters, on-street performance-based pricing strategies, etc. And, other cities in New Hampshire are implementing the same programs in increasing numbers.

These programs HAVE reduced related expenses and (gasp!) we're happy about it.

Your comments imply that governmental agencies don't have any common sense and are not learning the science of parking. Take a look at the vast increase in implementation and introduction of new technology and processes in the last 5 years. I would argue that municipalities are a VERY large driver of this change in our industry. Anyone that thinks this is driven entirely by private industry is missing the boat.

There are exceptions to every rule and a smaller city like Manchester, NH, might be that exception. They are obviously driven by leaders that care about their customers and want to do a good job in dealing with the public. Good for them and congratulations. You have overcome the need for 'command and control' and have built a program that works and works well in your community. I salute you.

However that doesn't really change what I think in general. For every Manchester there are 100 government entities around the world that simply don't get it. As a buddy of mine at an independent think take told me the other day when discussing this issue: It certainly is a target rich environment.

Look at the failures: Education, street maintenance, crime, central city blight, the postal service, actually collecting parking fines and fees, the DMV, the EPA, the Agriculture department, … the list is endless. And for every city that "works" there are many many more that don't.

I can take exception to Brandy's comment about cities driving change in parking. The use of P and D and Pay by Space has been routine in Europe for decades. Pay on foot in garages the same. It has only been in the past dozen years that cities have looked to using this technology herein the US. Bringing your processing into the current century may be a wonderful feat, but I suggest that I could buy things on Ebay and Amazon long before I could pay my parking ticket at my desk. Financial pressures in most cities have forced them to begin looking at cost savings, or even selling their assets. The private sector usually doesn't wait until it's bankrupt until it begins to find innovation. Oh, and I would say that virtually all the tools Brandy uses in making life better for those in New Hampshire came from private industry. The government culture simply doesn't lend itself to invention and production.

And one more thing. The marketing departments of a baker's dozen companies have been knocking on the doors of city parking departments for years. It's a long slog to get them to even look at innovation, halfway install a new technology. These road warriors have taken technology and cajoled, begged, threatened, and yes even bribed local officials to listen and then to begin to use the technology available. Seldom has change come from within. If that happened in the Granite State so much the better.

I'll stop before I dig my hole any deeper. Thanks Brandy for your well thought out and cogent comments.

JVH

Technology webinar on the air

Gee, I am tweeting about our webinar…as we speak. It's the first time I have heard Andy talking about technology (He gave this speech at a couple of regional parking meetings and in Brazil last month. He's actually pretty good. I would have expected nothing less, but it's good to have your assumptions confirmed.

He is speaking more to the things you need to think about when you address technology for your operation. He speaks to you, not at you. It's a gentle approach. Not a hard sell.

Some of it is elementary – but there are little jewels here and there that can help. In looking at the list of people who are attending, many are from cities and not a few are from vendors. It's nice to have them with us.

This webinar will be available through PT's web site, www.parkingtoday.com by next week.

JVH

Down and Out in BH

Was in Beverly Hills today – Used the IPS meters. With a credit card. Seemed to work great. Don' worry Bobra, I love the regular meters, too. I have to say, that on balance, I am a fan of single space meters. You don't have to do anything. Just put your money in and leave. Plus have you heard about the new app on IPOD? Check back – I'll splain all about it, Lucy

JVH

The Not-So-Great Wall of China

It was all over in 30 seconds. A nearly-complete 13-story apartment building in Shanghai China fell over in June, while remaining basically intact. The worst part is that a construction worker was killed, raising concerns about China's construction standards. Seven people in charge of the construction were arrested for causing a major accident.

The building, located in Shanghai's southwestern Minhang district, fell after the ground gave way on one side of the building, due to excavation of an underground parking garage. My personal recommendation is to always build the underground garage first, before constructing the building above it.

Parking World recently reported that China will be the largest car buyer in 2009. The China Passenger Association predicts full-year auto sales will grow by 44% over last year – to 13.5 million – making China the world's largest auto market. More cars will inevitably lead to more parking infrastructure, which could be a huge potential problem because China's construction industry has been gaining a reputation for poor quality and materials.

A picture says a thousand words, and in this case some of those words are: construction regulations must be improved in this rapidly growing economy. Some of the other words are probably expletives uttered by the unfortunate people who planned to reside in this building.

Pete Goldin

Another Reason Shopping Centers Should Charge For Parking

A shopping center in New Zealand is voiding "fines" it charges to people who abuse parking in its structures. Read about it here.

In a nutshell, the center has "free" parking. It is abused by some folks who park there but don't shop there. So they tag cars that they assume are driven by these scofflaws and charge them a $45 fee for abuse of the parking privilege. Of course the parking isn't really "free" but you already know that.

The problem caused by so called free parking and then fining for abuse is resentment. And that's what happened. People raised hell when they were charged $45 for overstaying the parking limit. The problem was that these folks were upstairs spending big bucks at the mall. And they had the receipts to prove it. The management naturally folded but there was resentment all around.

Now let's see. If everyone paid to park, what would happen?

If the rates were free for the first two hours and $2 for the third hour $5 for the fourth hour and so on, it would take care of those scofflaws who were parking all day. The stores could validate customers who were in the process of buying the Rolex and everyone would be happy.

The concept of "free" parking is anathema to good business, good public relations, and frankly to reality. Dammit, parking isn't free.

JVH

Does This make any sense at all?

The city of Toronto surcharges people who pay their parking tickets on line or by phone (automatic) but I guess if you come downtown, walk in, take up the time of a clerk, you don't have to pay the surcharge.

This makes absolutely no sense at all. Shouldn't it be the other way around? If someone pays on line or by phone, shouldn't they get a break? After all they are reducing the cost of doing business for the city? NON!!!Not in this largest of Canadian Cities. Let me parse it for you. You know what's coming, don't you?

Seems the extra fee ($2 for phone payments, $1.50 for internet payments) generates about $1.4 million for the city. It's another way of generating money without calling it a tax. It's a "fee." I can't think of a business on the planet that wouldn't give a person a discount if they didn't have to deal with them face to face. It saves time, money, and makes for a happier customer. The government? HA

They see it not as a cost saving factor for them, but as a way to garner more income.

The city issues about 2.8 million tickets a year and assuming 900,000 are paid on line or by phone (and assuming they are all by credit card) that means that over 1.6 Million are processed by hand. I did some math and find that the city must have at least 65 people processing these tickets. OK, let's be generous. Let's call it 40. At what $60,000 per year for a clerk (I know it's much more, but I'm being generous again) that's a cost of labor of $2.4 million. Wouldn't the city be much better off to REDUCE the fee of those paying on line by a few bucks and entice more to pay that way? Reduce staff, save money.

But government doesn't think that way. They think about income, not about reducing expenses.

That's why there is virtually nothing that can't be done quicker, better, and more cost effective by the private sector than the government. Ok, maybe except fight a war.

JVH

And they nicknamed it Peanut…

What a wonderful story. A baby is born in a Southwest flight. They make an emergency landing in Denver. Mother and Baby are doing fine. In this time of horror stories about everything from Tiger's infidelity to killings in Africa, it's just heartwarming to find a story like this

JVH.

Biting off your nose to spite…

This is an incredible story. The owner of a café near Couberg, Ontario, has had it. He parks his car in front of his shop every day, and gets tickets. He just can't find anywhere else to park. He has pleaded with the local government for help and they have tried to work something out but his neighbors just can't seem to get it together and help.

Now he's taking all his Christmas decorations down and threatening to move. Woe, woe, woe. There is parking nearby, but then he would have to schlep all his materials to his shop. That's certainly no good. Plus when his customers see his car parked in front, they know he's there. They then have to park a block away and walk to his store.

Read all about it here

I don't know enough about the layout of the area to have much of a comment, but that's never stopped me before. First of all, he says that he lives above his shop and therefore should have a space near his home. Huh? Where does that come from? No one is guaranteed a parking space, anywhere. Second he seems to put his own comfort over that of his customers. Third, if he is too tired to park his car properly, he should sleep more. And fourth, as correspondent Mark says -- if he wants the police and his customers to know he's there, why not just put up an "open" sign.

JVH

The absurdity of Air Travel Pricing

Ok – I'm in Detroit heading for Toledo – I have a three hour layover. I'm chatting with someone in the airport and find that I can drive to Toledo in 45 minutes rather than wait three hours and then have a one hour flight. So I do.

However Delta (Northwest) has different ideas. They cancel my return flight because I didn't take the second leg (from Detroit to Toledo) of my existing flight. They then tell me that if I want to fly back to LA I will have to have my ticket repriced at the "walk up rate". What the hell is that all about?

I'm sure it has something to do with the "ghost city" routine. For instance, there was a time when it cost less to fly from LA to San Antonio than from LA to Dallas, but the plane you were on to San Antonio went through Dallas. So folks would simply fly to "San Antonio", the ghost city, but get off in Dallas. When American discovered their passengers were not all stupid, they made the rule that if you didn't get on the plane in San Antonio, you couldn't fly from Dallas to LA (on that ticket). So people would simply get off in Dallas, do their business, then drive the hour and change to San Antonio, get on the plane there, and fly back through Dallas to LA. Not to be outdone, American then said they would cancel the return flight of anyone not flying the "second leg". They gotcha there. And I think they have me here.

Can anyone say "Southwest"

JVH

Parking System works flawlessly, and fails”

The city of Reading PA has done a study on a new parking system. It failed. Oh the system worked flawlessly, but the people didn't use it. The concept was parking meters that have sensors in the street and could be updated by cell phone.

The city got a lot of data, found that people do a better job of paying for parking there in Reading than the rest of the country (77 vs 50%) but that not a single person used the feature that allowed them to add time to the meter.

As Mark says – is that a solution in search of a problem?

Oh, and I wonder at the 50% number. How could they possibly know. Without single space monitoring, it is virtually impossible to tell how much time is lost due to non payment. I wonder if the folks in Reading didn't just pay more because the meter was new and jazzy and they wanted to use it out of curiosity? My understanding is that where these monitoring systems have been installed, the compliance number is considerably lower than 50%.

Read all about it here

JVH

A solution to the “Snow Day Parking Problem”

We are sort of throwing around the "where do cars go in the winter when they can't park on street" issue on twitter and Bobra Wilbanks from POM came up with one solution :

I'll bet you could pawn your car for a month or two in some big cities to avoid the snow plows -- cheaper than pay-to-store!

I like it.

There is a story about a gazillionaire in Manhattan who went into his bank and asked to borrow $10,000. He said he would leave his Rolls Royce as collateral. They were confused since he had a million on deposit but they took the deal. He handed them the keys and left on a two week tour of Europe. When he returned he paid the $38 interest and got his car back. When asked about it he said he couldn't find any cheaper, safer place to leave his car for two weeks in the city.

Or the guy who brought his car to the city once a week and each week he took it to a garage for a $19.95 oil change. They kept the car for the day. He also said that it was the cheapest parking in town.

JVH

Thanksgiving…

OK it's a day early but I plan to do no work tomorrow…R and I are going to Norm's restaurant for turkey and all the trimmings ($9.99) and then to a movie. We have moved our Thanksgiving celebration to Saturday so it can be spent with family that have other obligations on this day.

I remember the days when the kids were growing up – We would "do" Thanksgiving at one grandparent's house, and then drive 100 miles to "do" it at another. David mentioned to me yesterday that at least we got a real dose of L-tryptophan. I now wonder how we made it home without falling asleep. Now we have a tradition of moving the celebration to fit the family's schedules. Makes a lot of sense to me.

But what about giving thanks? For those of you outside the US, this may seem a tad strange. We have a holiday that is built around feasting and giving thanks to our good Lord or whomever we happen to worship, for the abundance we enjoy. It seems that this is a unique holiday for Americans (Ok I know, I know Canadians and Australians celebrate the day, but if you talk to them, it just isn't even close to the same.) Here in the US, this is our biggest family holiday. People travel for days so families can be together. There is traditional food – usually turkey in some form with dressing (stuffing) and vegetables, five kinds of potatoes, wine, and various kinds of dessert (usually somewhere in there is pumpkin pie).

Stuffing is my specialty. I base it on week old bread crumbs, (make em myself) and pork sausage, raisins, mushrooms, celery, apples, and a bunch of spices including sage, pepper, and some secret ones I can't remember but will when I see the bottles in the cabinet. You make a ton of the stuff, put in the turkey, and even under the skin, and then put the rest in a pyrex dish and bake it. Periodically when the turkey is dripping, you use one of those "turkey basters" and put the juice in the extra stuffing.

Usually there's half a turkey and half the stuffing left over. That's good because then you can have turkey and stuffing sandwiches – usually with some cranberry sauce. But why am I writing all this. You know it already.

This is a year I'm thankful is over and we are as healthy and prosperous as we were when it started. We had the recession, lost two dogs, have a sick cat, had one car totaled (no one injured), lost a third of the tree in the back yard, and moved half the household to Atlanta. But we survived very well, thank you very much.

All of this has gotten me to think about people who groan and moan about their troubles, woe woe woe. They complain about everything. They remember every detail of every problem they have had since kindergarten. Then I remember that everyone has basically the same problems. Anyone who has ever had a pet has lost a pet. If you own a tree, part of it has fallen down. If you own a car, you have had a wreck. People move, jobs change. And we all survive. It's a thing called life.

So my thoughts on Thanksgiving go to the fact that my life is full, busy, exciting, sometimes frightening, but never dull. The problems are opportunities (new dog that doesn't bark, new car, replace that tree that is so dirty with a pergola, and I get to see a part of the country I seldom visit. But I thank the good Lord most that I am a "glass half full kind of guy." As R would say – "suck it up and get on with it." Not a bad approach when you consider the alternative.

Have a wonderful day tomorrow – Eat too much, watch football til you drop, and then spend three days recovering. And give thanks…

JVH

Thanksgiving and Free Parking…

The Thanksgiving holiday is upon us and thus the beginning of the Christmas Shopping Season and city after city are offering "free" parking for folks coming downtown to shop. If you look at the news feeds every other one is something about a certain garage, or downtown, or shopping area providing "free" parking. Bah Humbug

The Christmas shopping season is hectic enough without having to run around searching for parking. Parking charges help provide parking by culling out the folks who can park in offstreet lots and in structures far away from the shopping area. These people are the employees who work in these stores and offices.

If you offer "free" parking, they will simply get there before the stores open, fill the choice spaces, and your customers, those who have hundred dollar bills dripping out of their pockets and purses, will be forced to park blocks away and fight their way to your front door.

The Thanksgiving holiday is the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Shopping areas should think about what they are going to do about their employees and free up those spaces for shoppers.

My suggestion? Find a lot nearby (even a vacant lot) and have your employees park there. Provide a shuttle to the shopping area for them. Just think, if just 20 stores with 10 people working in each did this it would free up 200 spaces. And assuming that each shopper taking those spaces spends two hours, that means in a 10 hour shopping day TWO THOUSAND people would have had safe, convenient parking right out front of your store.

Changing the rules and providing "free" parking, particularly that which says something like "First two hours free" leads to citations, misunderstands, anger, and public relations nightmares.Stay the course; be consistent, free up parking spaces. Remember the lots and streets around your stores are like churches and temples, you don't build them for Easter, or Yom Kippur. So be creative, make allowances, and have a Happy Thanksgiving and a perfect Christmas shopping season.

JVH

Free Parking is in our Genes

In his excellent blog over at Parking World Blog, Pete quotes Ashok Datar who says building off street parking won't work if people can park for free on street. He channels Don Shoup almost word for word.

In India, as in the US and Europe, that "birthright" of free parking is ever present. I always joked that it was in the governing documents of a country, whether a constitution. the Magna Carta, or the treaty of Lisbon. However Pete's post has had me rethink that position. It must be in the Human Genome.

JVH

Dubai to convert Parking Lots from Asphalt to Grass

Read all about it here. The folks in this second of the Emirates want to go green, literally. They are planning to take all the parking surface lots in the city and cover them with grass. I wish them all the luck. they will need it.

Not to be completely negative on the subject, but my experience, somewhat limited I agree, tells me that this is a gargantuan task. It will require a lot of engineering, replacement of topsoil, grading, reinforcement, fertilizer, cutting, and the like. Of course this shouldn't be much of a problem in a country where they build islands in the shape of palm trees and have the tallest building in the world.

However, I wonder at an alternative. Why not plant trees? They would take less water and maintenance, provide the "green" feel the city is chasing and more importantly SHADE to help in those 50 C ()140F)summers.

There is something else. Those Bentleys, Ferraris and Rolls Royces have a lot of torque. That power on the rear tires has a tendency to tear at the pavement. What will they do to grass, even the reinforced variety?

JVH

Re: Chicago

By the way, I made no comment on the city's side of this deal. Actually if you think about it, it's a good one, as one commenter on my original post below mentioned. They got a ton of money up front, have no risk, and no concern that in 75 years we are all "beaming" from place to place and parking goes the way of the dodo.

JVH

Chicago Comments (Below) Confirmed – Some Pretty Unhappy Investors

I checked with my guru on investing and yep, I was right. He said that Morgan Stanley most likely projected a 10 percent or so return to its investors a year ago when the deal was cut, but then…there are no guarantees. The bank (Morgan Stanley) makes its money on the fees it charges to put together these deals and also a percentage when it is sold. They use OPM (Other People's Money) so their corporate downside is minimal if any. His comment:

    All in all, I guess that they have some pretty unhappy investors.

JVH

It’s Mystery Parking Time again

Cities across the snow belt are letting their citizens know that effective on a certain date (usually December 1) overnight parking is banned on most streets. The reason – Snow. They ban on street overnight parking so the plows can get through and move the snow around. Fair enough. But here is my annual question for all you living where the white stuff piles up. Where do you put your cars?

See, during the warmer months, folks park on the streets and complain that there isn't enough parking. Now when it snows the cars just up and disappear. Where do they go? And if they can go there in the winter, why not in the summer?

I usually get stories about folks who own two cars, one a beater that can take the snow and ice and salt and a good one to drive when the sun is warm. They exchange locations depending on the season. But that doesn't answer my question. There is still a car floating around that has to be put somewhere.

My point is that if there is room enough for all the cars to park off street in the winter, why is there such a parking problem in the summer?

I'm waiting for the answer.

JVH

Skiers Should Pay to Park

What is arguably the most expensive sport in which the individual citizen can participate? Fishing, surfing, running, golf, tennis, hunting? No. I believe if you add in all the gear, tickets and travel expense, Skiing is number one. People who ski have to have a disposable income up there with Midas.

So, the folks in Telluride, Colorado, are arguing over free parking for skiers. Seems the folks who own the mountain that brings those who ski to town cut a deal a few years back to turn over some parking structures and the like to the local town. The deal was that the town would supply free parking to skiers. Well that was then, this is now. It costs the town about a million a year to provide the parking, and they, like others, are cash strapped. They went back to the well and of course are now embroiled in a fight.

My position. Skiers should pay for parking, whether it's in the cost of the lift tickets or when they enter the parking lot. Obviously the most fair is for the cost to be unbundled. Those who drive, pay. Simple.

After all, if they continue to offer 'free" parking, the million has to come from somewhere. And the city will simply raise taxes on everyone to get it. Telluride will become more expensive to visit than say Aspen or Steamboat, and the numbers will go down. Increased taxes will be reflected in lift tickets, meals, hotels, and cost of items in the shops.

Parking isn't free.

JVH

Automated Garages

The number of garages of this type is creeping up. According to Don Monahan over at Walker who knows about these things there are eight of them currently running and six under construction. We have a complete story and list in our upcoming PT edition that will be delivered in January.

Those numbers aren't too shabby considering that except for two, they have virtually all been delivered in the last two or three years.

There will be a sidebar on that story about the automated garages finished and under construction in the United Arab Emirates. There is one finished and two or three more in various stages of completion.

JVH

Was the Chicago Deal a good one for the investor?

It is reported in the New York Times that the Chicago Parking Meter operation is pulling in one million a week and is operating on a 70% net profit margin. That's a profit of $700,000 a week or $36.4 million a year. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it.

I know nothing about high finance but consider this. They paid $1.15 BILLION for this deal. They are getting a return of 3.17%. I'm sure that if I had a billion dollars to loan, I could get at least what, 10% on the open market. (Morgan Stanley, the money partner in this deal, has a tax equivalent municipal bond fund that generates 11.5%. That means, I think, that the fund generates a net amount the equivalent of a normal fund that makes 11.5% and is taxed).

So Morgan Stanley could have invested the $1.15 billion in its own fund and made nearly four times what it's making by investing in the parking business in Chicago. You might say that the income will increase over time as the rates increase, but then the income from the bond investment would compound over the years (double every seven or so years) wouldn't it?

Can someone check my numbers and tell me where I'm off here. I realize that running a trillion dollar investment bank is different than running a tiny magazine, but something doesn't seem to foot. I'm going to check this out with someone who knows about this stuff. I'll check it out and get back to you.

JVH

Only in the Big Apple A Baghdad by the Bay nominee

The wizards in the New York City city council have passed a new law that gives five minutes grace to parking meters. I know, I know…

Let me attempt to parse this for you. If you buy 60 minutes on a parking meter, you get 65. Fair enough, I guess. So if the enforcement officer sees a meter that has expired what is he/she to do? The only thing they can possibly do is assume the meter expired a nano second before they glanced at it and then wait five minutes before writing the ticket. Of course when the driver came up, wouldn't they say that the officer had been "pushing" the time and then it only ran out a few seconds before.

As correspondent Mark put it so well:

Has anyone ever heard of somebody getting a ticket for anything other than being "two minutes over the time limit"?  It ought to be interesting to see how they're going to enforce this one.  The only way I can see to make it work is to program the meters to give 5 minutes grace on the front end, otherwise who's to say when the 5 minute grace period began or ended?

This is close to the most boneheaded idea that politicians have come up with yet. It can't be enforced. It will only add to the already mass confusion in the city streets of the Big Apple. And when the locals in New York find out that it makes no difference in the number of citations that are being written, they will double their calls to their local councilfolks.

The City council president:

"Just don't issue these tickets so quickly," he said. "It is not wrong to have a heart and not get people at the exact moment."

Mayor Bloomberg's comment:

"Whose watch are you going to use?" he asked. "I think something that is explicit, so there are no arguments, is in everyone's interest."

Another nominee for the coveted "Baghdad by the Bay" award, given periodically to those cities that just can't get their parking act together. Another law that will make no difference, cause chaos, and not be enforced.

JVH

I’m glad this is working out so well

GM is reporting that it lost "only" $1.2 billion in the third quarter, showing that as a sign of progress. This after the US government swept in, fired its CEO, forced it into bankruptcy, cheated its bondholder, and shored up the company to the tune of $52 billion. The Chief Financial officer says that the uptick in revenues and down tick in losses can only be used as a harbinger of a "trend" because the accounting procedures used don't meet the test of normal accounting practices. In addition:

The company also says it will begin repaying $6.7 billion in U.S. government loans with a $1.2 billion payment in December. It could pay off the full amount by 2011, four years ahead of schedule, but the money will come from funds loaned by the government.

Is there anyone out there that thinks that this company can possibly survive? Particularly since the United Auto Workers now own a large part of it.

Sort of reminds me of when Arthur Skargill, leader of the coal miners in the UK, demanded a mine be kept open. The problem was there was no coal left in the mine. He didn't care.

Just think. If GM had gone under a year and a half ago, the other car companies would be picking up the slack, most of its workers would be working for them, and its assets would have been sold to companies that could actually make cars at a profit. But no. It's just too large to fail. It would seem to me that one of the requirements of "coming out" of bankruptcy be that the company must operate at a profit. But then, that's impossible. With its legacy retirement program problems and untenable union demands, it has no where to go. Its competitors have either cut better deals with the unions (Ford) or are non union (virtually everyone else except Chrysler). Their costs are much less than GM. I guess GM plans to lose money on every car it sells, but make it up in the volume.

Wow!

JVH

Chicago Privatization…Take 2

OK, we have heard from all the critics and hysterical main stream media reports of the "disaster" with Chicago's conversion of its on street parking system to private hands. Now we get a third party report that is much more detailed and even handed.

Leonard Gilroy of the Reason foundation has done a great amount of research on the project and reports at the foundations web site here.

I suggest you take the time to read it. It could open your eyes and change many of your opinions.

JVH

But, its 15 years old…

OK, at the risk of being slightly blasphemous, the bible does not go out of date and its at least a couple of thousand years old. However the Downtown association is hawking a primer for downtowns discussing on street parking. It was written for the ITE in 1994. I can't help wondering if this tome isn't slightly behind the times. You can read about it here.

OK, I shouldn't decry the contents as I haven't even read it, but there is no hint of updating, and since it was written in the last century, let's think about is most likely not included.

• Pay be Cell Phone
• Web based parking payments
• Use of LPR for enforcement
• Individual space monitoring
• Intelligent signage
• Multispace meters
• Pay by Credit Card
• Anything related to Don Shoup's theories
• On Street Valet

And I'm certain that any cost projections or summaries will be woefully out of date. All that having been said, there is most likely a good set of basics that would help any downtown community. Time for the ITE to update? Yep.

JVH

Twitter

I have been musing on the value of Twitter. It seems to me that for adults this is simply a way to get people to look at something else you have written elsewhere on the 'net. (Facebook, blog, myspace, etc)...You know -- I hate parking -- wanna read more, go to www.parkingtoday.com   Something like that.
But you need to get people to "follow" you or what you "tweet" is never read. I now have about 35 followers.(I get 15,000 people reading my bon mots in PT and 300 or so a day here at the blog -- fraid 35 is not an ego boost.) Most of the followers I have never heard of and think that less than a quarter are actually interested at all in our industry. Most "tweets" I see from adult bloggers are links to
their blogs.
Perhaps someone can explain this phenomena to me. In the UK, it nearly got a person killed when he tweeted about a famous actor. The most followed person is unknown to anyone but has over half a million followers. His tweets are like "Got up and ate toast with jam" HUH?
OK, I'm going to keep tweeting but the problem is that for it to make any sense it has to say something other than my interest in Honey over Grape Jelly or what the cat coughed up overnight. So I am going to use it as a lead to this blog and other things Parking Today. Fair enough?
Follow me on jvhpt and get links to the blog, PT, our new video site (lots of good stuff there) and whatever else parking is "happening" Oh, and I'm considering a contest -- with big bucks to the winner -- Maybe Marcy can help with this...
Tweet Tweet

JVH

 

Robotic Parking

Spent the day yesterday in Dubai touring MRS installations with their local business development manager, Usama Al Kahaleh.
First we saw their running installation near a shopping mall on the outskirts of the city. Its a 600 car facility that on the inside looks reminiscent of Hoboken's Robotic Garage. That's probably because MRS is the local name for Robotic Parking, the company that installed the system in Hoboken.
This systems is running smoothly (I've actually seen it) and is a big hit. The problem they have is that the building it supports, like so many in Dubai, isn't finished. (The free standing garage is). So a lot of the traffic that would be going to the garage doesn't yet exist. However on weekends, its jumping. There is a mall across the street and a number of clubs so activity
picks up during these days.
We then visited a project that is under construction, the Emirates Financial Plaza in the middle of Dubai's cluster of highrises on the "strip" leading out to Abu Dhabi. Its a 1000 car facility that is finished but is now waiting for the building above it to be completed so the parking can be put into operation. They do something a bit different hat this site. You drive into what would appear to be a standard garage and then you can choose whether to park in the normal manner or use the automated garage. I was told that during peek traffic entrance times, this will alleviate the pressure on the 10 entry bays used in the Robotic system. The company also has a garage coming out the the ground here in Abu Dhabi.
Robotic's founder is Gerhart Haag, or as is known in these parts, Royce Monteverdi. If you want to read all about Royce and/or Gerhart check out his web
site here. His son is located here in the Emirates doing software support for the company here. The young man told me that the moving parts of the system are manufactured in Florida, tested there at their facility in Clearwater, and then shipped to job site for installation.
It seems that those who were dancing on Robotic's grave just a few years ago may have done that two step a tad too early.
JVH

Civilized Abu Dhabi

This is a most civilized country, at least as traffic is concerned. As I sit on my balcony sipping an adult beverage, I note that there are no horns honking and no sirens blaring. It's 8 PM on Friday evening and the streets are full. Traffic is moving apace but its quiet.
I put this down to a civilized population that is a tad patient and who believes in not intruding on the next person. I've seen some strange driving habits (passing on the apron on the freeway, for instance) and most likely some aggressive tendencies but no horn honking. I love it.
I thought it might be illegal to use a horn, but I looked it up and no, horn honking is as legal as men in white robes.

JVH

Abu Dhabi

Having some technical problems now blogging from blackberry

Middle east parking symposium in full swing. Many speakers from the US, UK, Australia, and from local orgs.

Now headed to Dubai to check out Robotic Garage. Will report back

J

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

But But But…

I'm speechless, but not really. Here's the scoop – The Mayor of Port Jefferson on Long Island in New York has ordered the enforcement officers to not ticket any cars in the city's lots if there are fewer than 30% of the spaces filled. She issued the order 90 days ago. Read about it here

 

So let's see – we have a parking ordinance, meters, signs and the like, but we aren't going to enforce the ordinance when the officers "feel" that the lots are less than one third full. Wow it's like the lotto. If you drive in and think that the number is down, hell, forget the meter. You aren't going to get a ticket. On the other hand, if you arrived to an empty lot at 10:45, and the local fish and chips shop decided to give away two for one and opens at 11.. You could get a ticket because the lot filled after you parked. The Mayor says she needs the officers to do other things.

 

Now the city did vote to have free parking during the "off" season and are putting signs up to make that official. In the mean time, as the local paper put it well "If you like to gamble and are good at estimating percentages, you might be able to save some coin when you park in Port Jefferson."

 

I think that what is going to happen here is that people will simply understand that they don't have to pay and when the city decides they need some money they will start to enforce again and the local folks will complain to high heaven. This mayor could find herself in a real parking pickle about three weeks after the legal 'free' parking goes away and tourists flock back to the area.

 

Inconsistency in enforcement is the beginning of parking disaster. This mayor needs to talk to Sandra in Whistler, BC to find out just how pissed off people can get when you mess with their parking.

 

Maybe if she had just kept it a secret. Although we all know that a secret is no longer a secret when you tell one person, and she had to tell the officers. Where do you think the Times Beacon Record heard this little tidbit? I wonder what other brainstorms they have going in the inner workings of the Port Jefferson city council.

 

Hat Tip: Dan K

 

JVH

Isn’t there a standard for this type of thing?

In the UK, someone actually read the fine print on a parking ticket and challenged it. A tribunal of some kind agreed and voided the ticket, and at the same time voided 1600 other tickets that hadn't yet been paid. They figured that the ones that had been paid had by paying admitted liability so they were not going to return the money. I have no clue about the legal side of this, but to me using my "common sense" rule, this is bonkers.

The tickets were written in good faith. They were received in good faith. They were paid in good faith. So therefore the ones that had not been paid (Because the people who didn't pay them were scofflaws) should also be collected. Of course if there is an unrelated problem with the citation (illegible, person didn't do it, etc) then of course they shouldn't have to pay.

It would seem to me that if there was some legal mumbo jumbo that no one except a lawyer understood anyway, and it doesn't really make any difference as to whether a person was guilty or not, then the citations should stand. If there was a problem with signage (perhaps a conflict where one sign says park and one says don't park, for instance, or a tree covering the sign), I can see voiding all the tickets and correcting the problem. However if something is in the fine print and the rest of the process is kosher, then why can't we let common sense prevail? Just Saying

JVH

I can’t let this pass – Global Warming and Sub Saharan Africa

Malaria is a huge problem in Africa. More than 90% of the one million that's ONE MILLION people that die of the disease every year live there. Now the Global Warming folks claim that if the temperature goes up two degrees in the next 90 years, 3 percent more people will be subjected to the ravages of malaria. The cost to reduce that number is $40 trillion. That 40 thousand billion and assuming that "global warming" is in fact something we can do something about, not settled science at all, spending the $40 trillion will reduce the number of folks exposed to malaria by 3%. Read all about it here in the Wall Street Journal.

In a study done by the Danes, it turns out that if you invested $3 billion a year for 10 years on mosquito nets, DDT sprays (interior), and subsidies for new drugs to fight the disease, you would halve the number of people infected with the disease.

It seems the problem with malaria isn't temperature, its poverty, lack of health care and minimal fighting against the mosquito. If that's not the case, why don't we have malaria outbreaks in Florida, or Southern Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas. Hmmmm.

See – global warming activists see only one thing, the possible rise in global temperature. They don't see the result of what their so called solutions mean to the poor. The rich countries will survive. The poor ones will bear the pain.

One sidebar – We have enough oil, shale, natural gas, and the like in North America to run our cars, factories, and power plants cleanly for many decades. But we won't drill for it because we are afraid of environmental disasters. We have the most stringent environmental controls on the planet. When we drill its clean and pristine. Just ask the Alaskans.

So what do we do – Drill? No – we pay the Brazilians to drill. They have very little environmental controls and are and will be soiling the planet. So let's see – It's OK for Brazil, the folks and the Middle East and that paragon of green energy, Russia, to drill and spoil the earth in so doing, but it's not OK for us to drill here at home where we can control the environmental damage AND have energy independence.

Did we just fall down the rabbit hole?
JVH

Too good to check…

If I asked you what "crime" got the higher fine in the UK, a parking ticket or possession of Cocaine or heroin, what would be your answer? The drugs? Guess again

According to this article in the Telegraph, drug users caught in the act pay half as much as drivers overstaying their meter. (Crack cocaine, $65 – Parking Ticket, $100)

Of course here in the colonies where we have no clue, drug fines start at $2500 to $1,000,000 and most carry a prison term. So what does that say about the UK?

From my point of view it's the nanny state run amok. Poor, poor downtrodden drug abusers. We need to nurture them and help them and make them see the errors of their ways. However if you over stay your parking, then dammit its up the river, take your car, and open your pocketbook, you seasoned criminal.

The fines for drug use and sale are simply a cost of doing business in the UK. Read the article. This scourge on our inner cities and on our middle class 'burbs" is "ticket time." And it turns out the fines have been going down. Of course parking fines are going up.

We aren't talking a joint found in someone's wallet, we are talking crack and China White. Well this is the country that put a man in jail for shooting a criminal in his house who was threatening to do bodily harm to his wife.

Sigh

JVH

Parking Lot Role Models

(Parking World writer Pete Goldin held forth on PW's blog about movies and how they degradate our industry. His followup I thought should be shared with PT readers –JVH)

In my last blog, I exposed Hollywood's character assassination of the car park, and I suggested that the movie makers present the public with some positive parking lot role models. My editor has asked me what I think this role model would be like. Here are a few of my cinematic parking visions:

- Well-lit spaces that discourage suspicious characters from lurking in the shadows.

- Open sight lines that do not leave spaces for bad guys to hide.

- CCTV and other security measures to keep patrons safe and minimize the urge to hold gun fights or kidnap unsuspecting patrons on the premises.

- Speed bumps to discourage high speed car chases.

- Practical signage and markings that allow people such as Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer to find their car in under 30 minutes.

The Supporting Cast:

- Friendly and helpful car park attendants who do not resemble zombies.

- Valets who are conscientious, and do not smash vehicles into each other and do not take joy rides in customer cars, screeching the tires as they race out of the lot.

- Security personnel in attendance, not sleeping, with attention paid to what is happening on that CCTV screen just over their shoulder.

PG

Developers, Shoup, Banks, and Catch-22

Here's a take I hadn't considered: What if banks wouldn't loan on a development if the number of parking spaces didn't meet the industry average, EVEN IF the local zoning requirements had been removed and the number wasn't required. Read all about it here

It seems developers are being caught in a Catch 22. Cities are following the lead of Shoupistas and removing parking requirements on development to assist in getting new buildings going in downtown areas. This helps in development, and certainly in attracting "sustainable" businesses into the areas. It makes sense in every way, until the developer goes to get his loan from the banks.

Here's the banker's quote:

"We're not going to make a loan without getting comfortable with the parking element and the parking strategy," explains Michael Morris, executive vice president of real estate for Zions Bank.

Other factors besides parking ratios also play a role, he says, including the overall economy and the mix of equity and debt.

Construction lenders could be "flexible" and approve transit-oriented projects, Morris says, so long as long-term lenders are content. But he predicts parking at housing units, regardless of location, likely will remain a premium.

"I don't know if public transportation or fuel efficiency or the green movement is going to change that in the near term," Morris adds, before pausing. "As a corporation, we're open-minded and will participate in the dialogue. And we'll do what makes sense."

Sure, it sounds like they can be "flexible." But just show up with a number of parking spaces that doesn't meet their requirement and see what happens.

Think about the problem with housing units – By reducing the number of required spaces, the developer can unbundle parking from the building and lower the cost for housing. People who live near their work can forgo a vehicle, and all is right with the world.

Not going to happen if banks have their way. The article goes on to say that cities and developers are in an ongoing educational process with banks but it is slow.

Just another problem in dealing with the recession, development, and financing.

JVH

What a concept

Following on to the posts below -- Andy sends in this tidbit from the Associated Press

La Crosse Police Issue "Courtesy" Parking Tickets

 La Crosse police are trying to be friendly to visitors of this western Wisconsin city during the height of fall tourism. Lt. Pat Hogan says the department is issuing visitor-friendly "courtesy" parking tickets to first-time, overtime parking violators.

Mayor Matt Harter says the city can help downtown businesses by giving first-timers a break, along with providing as much parking as possible by enforcing existing rules.

Since Oct. 4, community service employees have written 454 warnings, or about 18 a day. Of those, 306 were in downtown La Crosse.Previous violators still have to pay a $12 fine, after a $4 increase approved in March.

Well, Duh -- I have been railing about this solution for years. It solves all PR problems and follows the rules as well.

JVH