PT's Parking Blog

Everyone Pays for Parking....

Doug Holmes, IPI Prez, Parking guru at Penn State and founder and owner of one of the most active parking sites on earth, the Cpark-L list serve, has used his background and wisdom to clear up a matter that has concerned me for years, charging for parking on University Campuses. First the question as it came in:

We are moving towards changing its parking culture and requiring everyone to pay for parking with the exception of the Board of Trustees and the members of the Foundation Board.  We have multiple advisory boards for colleges, our IT department, etc. and they all meet on a monthly basis.  I imagine other universities have the same situation.  How much do you charge these groups and how are these individuals charged?  Please elaborate on your permitting procedures.for advisory boards, volunteers, etc.

And Doug's response:

We have worked very hard to ensure that all permits are issued on a fee basis and that fees charged are the same for similar levels of privileges.  Our Trustees permits are paid for out of central funding, although not out of the individual trustees pocketbooks.  Even research subjects that have parking permits are assessed a fee.  In most cases, however, the department benefiting from the research usually picks up the tab.  The reason for this is that for every "free" permit that is issued, someone is picking up the tab.  If you are operating independently, from a financial stand point, that means that students, faculty, staff or someone who is paying for their parking service is actually subsidizing the "free" parking.

Even volunteers, such as the docents at the museums on campus have a fee assessed on their permits, although the curators of the individual museums pay for the permits out of their budgets.

When you start giving away parking privileges, it becomes very difficult to draw the line.  You start getting into a who is more worthy situation.  So charge them all or at least make someone responsible to pick up the tab.  It is amazing how many fewer permits someone can get by with when they have to pay for them!!!

The last graph is the key -- "It is amazing how many fewer permits someone can get by with when they have to pay for them."  Amen.

OK, give the donor of the new wing on the hospital free parking, but have the hospital pay for it. That way, they will think about it before they give it to every doctor, head nurse, and grad student.

JVH

Central Needs to update its PR

I got the following from Manny Resores, Mr. Parking Consultancy in the UK, concerning Central Parking.,

...following the sale of CPS's European Operation, I have just noticed from their latest press release, they appear to want to continue to show they are still a major International operation and one could say they are misleading the public by quoting inaccurate general information on the company. I say that if it was such an strategic reason to sell their European Operation as non core business, why make a new statement stating the same number of spaces and International locations; with the qualification of "As of June 30 2007". 

"Central Parking Corporation, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, is a leading provider of parking and transportation-related services. As of June 30, 2007, the Company operated approximately 3,000 parking facilities containing approximately 1.4 million spaces at locations in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Spain, Switzerland and Greece"

Manny keeps track of such things. I checked and this is current as of August 20, their latest release

JVH

Time Expired

Sue Olley from the city of West Palm Beach sends in this terrific post:

I got this from a woman online. A friend of hers died who had a great sense of humor and always used to say that when she died she wanted a parking meter on her grave that says "Expired".  So her nephew got her one on ebay!  She said that the grave is right by the road so everyone can see it and many people have stopped to get a chuckle.   

             

Note she passed away on her birthday.                                                             

The meter says "Expired"

JVH

102,000 page views - Anyone want to help?

We are rocking. Thanks to Parking Blog's readers, we have had over 102,000 page views since we began in March 2005. We are now averaging over 300 visits a day to this little backwater blog. I know its not a lot compared with some that get that many in a minute, but it keeps the pressure up and I love it.

If you would like to join me in blogging on this site, drop me a line and we can work it out. Always room for more ideas, comments, and even the off snide remark.

Thanks for your support

JVH

Cramer Wins in Harrisburg

Its official, Stan Cramer has won his battle to keep the Harrisburg Airport from stealing his property and his business. The airport has tried over the past few years to use eminent domain to take Stan's business. They didn't know who they were up against.

Stan has fought them every inch of the way and here is the result:

Today, the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority (SARAA) adopted a resolution outlining the terms pursuant to which it is willing to amicably resolve litigation surrounding its condemnation of property belonging to Stanford Cramer. Pursuant to the resolution, SARAA would withdraw its Declaration of Taking and make certain payments to Mr. Cramer. In return, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Office of Attorney General would withdraw antitrust litigation that it has commenced against SARAA and the parties would agree to a process by which SARAA can obtain Mr. Cramer’s property in the future for airport development needs. According to SARAA Board Chairman John Ward, “The Resolution strikes a delicate balance between the needs of HIA to fulfill its mission of encouraging economic development in Central Pennsylvania, which benefits the region and its citizens, and protecting the interests of Mr. Cramer and the patrons of his parking lot.”

Not the part of about the Attorney General withdrawing its litigation against the airport. That's all Stan's doing. He fought back and he won. Mark one up for the little guy against the government.

With the settlement Stan gets $300,000 and the airport cannot attempt to take his property for three years. After that, and after they meet certain conditions, they my again try to condemn the property, but if Stan doesn't like the price they set, he can require that an appraiser be called in and that the number be set by the appraiser.

There are some other minor aspects, but you get the drift.

Way to go Stan...

JVH

PUblic Park(ing) Day

A group from San Francisco has been promoting parks and park land with public "art" projects to raise the visibility for the need for more parks in the US. Read all about it at their web site here.

The group takes over an on street parking space and turns it into a "park" for the maximum amount of time one can put on the meter. THey pay the parking fee, and then put down grass, a potted tree, benches and then invite folks in to enjoy the new temporary park.

Its a publicity stunt, sure. But is certainly is creative. This year they are going nationwide (and some international cities). Look around on September 21.

JVH

Kauffman to T2

Former IPI Chair and Allentown PA Parking Head Linda Kauffman, along with six other public sector parking pros, has joined T2 systems. Here's the release:

T2 Systems is proud to announce the addition of Linda Kauffman, former International Parking Institute
(IPI) Chair, as well as several other city/municipality and university parking experts to its team. The expansion comes after recently receiving a $3 million growth investment to enhance and expand customer service and technical development of the company’s unified parking management system, T2 Flex(TM).

Linda Kauffman, former executive director of the Allentown Parking Authority, is now an expert consultant for T2 in the areas of parking operations, access and revenue control systems, enforcement, citation processing and collections. Also joining the T2 team are Nicole VanNess from Traverse City, Michigan, and Shi Brooks from Mississippi State University, software consultants; Sarah Kimmett from City of Boulder, Colorado, and Jason Givens from Western Kentucky University, technical support analysts; Cheryl Murphy, from Minitab Incorporated – State College Pennsylvania, business analyst.

All the best to Linda.

JVH

Its just Business as Usual in New Orleans

I got this story from a friend the other day. Basically it says that a local (well loved) politician has been caught taking a bribe and names other prominent in New Orleans politics and bag men. The reason for the bribes? To keep certain unnamed parking operators in their locations.

In checking with my contacts in the Big Easy I find that this is just business as usual. Virtually all dealings with the New Orleans City government is propelled by the fuel of bribery. In fact, my contacts in the business say that the folks named in the articles are "good friends" and well known to those in the parking business in New Orleans.

If you want to read a history of the entire fiasco log on to the New Orleans Times Picayune site and key in Oliver Thomas. Its a better place to do the research since the NYT charges you to read the article and the Times Picayune does not.

This investigation is brought to light because Oliver Thomas was considered a rising star in New Orleans politics. He was loved by all and expected to replace Ray Nagin as mayor. Had he been just another political hack no one would probably have noticed the story and how bagman Stan "Pappy" Barra, a local restauranteur and partner in a company that wanted to keep running parking facilities for the city in the French Quarter bribed the city councilman with a mere $20K.

Are any of the parking companies New Orleans managers quacking in their boots when they find that Barra turned states evidence to get a shorter sentence and is naming names? Probably not. This is small potatoes in the state of Louisiana.

In a few weeks all will be forgotten and life will go on, just as it has with other such deals, some much larger.

Sad, isn't it.

JVH

UP to his neck in Koi

Joe Zuritsky is the CEO of Parkway Corporation that operates over 100 parking garages in the Philadelphia area. His company also is involved in developing many projects not only in Philly, but throughout the East. So why is there a picture of him literally up to his neck in Koi in the lasted issue of Fortune Small Business.

Seems his hobby for the past few years has been the study of Koi. He built a farm in Southern Jersey and is raising the pricey fish and selling them to wholesalers around the country. Most Koi come from Japan but Joe and Co's Quality Koi can breed and sell them for a third less. He says he will sell up to 30,000 fish this year.

And he doesn't have to worry about lost tickets or overselling a garage.

JVH

I wondered where those golden wonders in the tank in his office came from...

Charlotte Airport has a problem -- enough parking space but some lots are overflowing

Its an old story. People simply act in their own best interest, no matter how much government would like them to do otherwise. At Charlotte Airport, They have nearly 20,000 parking spaces of which almost half are cheap $3 a day and the rest are $7 a day. Can you guess where most people park? And can you guess what the biggest complaint is at the airport?

Right - there's not enough cheap parking. I also note from an article in the local paper that the management of the lots is a bit haphazard in that lots are sometimes closed even when there are spaces available. The airport, to keep costs down, fill one lot first and then open the second. They also "don't try to fill every space".

So people drive by a closed lot and see empty spaces. Boy that pisses me off. It would seem that a couple of counters in the entrance and exit lanes, reset each night, could tell them when the lot was full, exactly. It might also help when dealing with audits, but I digress.

Lets see, if I fill lot "A" and then close it and move on to lot "B" I would guess that folks when parked in lot "A" will return first and begin to increase the number of free spaces in "A". A sign outside "A" telling people how many spaces are available (see previous paragraph) would give people a choice of whether to search for 10 spaces in 1000 or move on to Lot "B". Yes, it may require more shuttle drivers, but my guess is that folks wouldn't complain about a $.50 a day hike in pricing to pay for the convenience.

I guess when one is used to paying $20 a day for long term, $3 seems cheap. And I know that Charlotte won't bear such a price increase, or even close to it. But it seems to me that some creative pricing might be in order. Why not do a study and find out how long people actually park in the lot. Go for the average, say 4 days. Then charge $3 for the first 4 days and then increase the rate to $5, or $10 for days 5 and above. That would motivate people to take alternative forms of transportation if they are traveling for a longer period, open up space in the lots, and still ensure that those on short or business trips aren't inconvenienced.

From the piece in the Charlotte Observer it looks like some of these ideas are being considered. Outside the box thinking is difficult when you are in the box.

JVH

How to always find your car...

Here's a great idea -- When you park your car at the airport or in a large garage, use your cell phone camera to take a couple of pictures of the location of the vehicle (floor number and aisle markings.  Then when you return, either hours or days later, you can simply look at the picture and voila...

Another idea. When the plane lands, go directly to the shuttle and pick up your car. After you leave the long term lot, drive back to the terminal, park nearby. Go inside and pick up your bag, return to the car and be off. You will save considerable time and at most airports the first half hour or so is free.

See what you learn when you read an entire article AND the comments at the end of it.

JVH

Permit Parking in Kent, Clarke...

Kent, WA is a burb of Seattle.  It is building an "events" center downtown and the residents nearby are panicked that it will mean that people will, dare I say it, park in front of their homes. Read all about it. The solution: a permit area in the neighborhood. Residents will get permits and the amount of time one can park will be limited if you don't have one.

OH, so man problems, so little space -- First of all, they will be inventing an entire new class of lawbreakers in Kent. People who heretofore simply came down town to shop, eat, and have a good time will also become scofflaws who search out dark corners to leave their cars, then come by in a few hours and move them to stay ahead of the parking police. Second, visitors to the neighborhood will be severely inconvenienced having either to get permits from their hosts or chancing a ticket. Third, money generated from the tickets will most likely be dropped into the general fund creating an entire new tax base for the city and local politicians will jump on that money like the proverbial white on rice.

If you carefully read the article, you will find that there are in fact enough parking spaces near the event center to handle event parking. They are both surface and structure, and owned by the city, local mass transit, and private entities. Wait!!! I have an idea. Why not set up a program to attract people to the off street parking near the event center rather than a complex program of permits, rules and enforcement that will turn property owner against parker, parker against enforcement and everyone against the city government.

Charge for parking on street in the neighborhoods.  OK, give residents a break on the charges if you want. Charge considerably more than the off street lots during the events. People will naturally gravitate to those locations and all will be right with the world.

Sure some people will park in the neighborhoods, but probably no more than do now. And so what? Money will be collected. That money will be returned to the neighborhoods in the form of new street lights, sidewalks, parks, and the like. The free market will, as it always does, solve the problem and all will be right with the world.

Sorry, I got carried away. Fairy tales just never seem to come true when the government is involved.

JVH

Aussies Go after Parkers to balance city budget

The Melbourne city government has a problem. They are short $4 million to balance their budget. So where to go? They are looking to the parking wardens in the city to come up with at least $1.5 million more in citation revenue on top of the more than $35 million they collect already each year. This editorial decries the problem.

I guess their backs are really to the wall. They have already installed "red light" cameras, extended parking hours, and still can't make it. They have slashed their staff, and raised parking fines. What to do, what to do?

The local press says that Melbourne is now a "byword for harrassment."

See what happens when you use a critical resource like parking as a tool to pay government expenses. It becomes another method of taxation and folks aren't stupid. They know it and frankly, they aren't going to put up with it.

If Melbourne used that $35 million to plant trees or replace streets or sidewalks or build parks my guess is that they would have no problem selling the concept of paid parking downtown. Instead the money disappears into that black hole know as the general fund never to be seen again.

It's past time for governments at all levels to think outside the box and begin to understand that they can't be all things to all people. They need to look back at what they were chartered to so and then do it. Taxation can only go so far.  Your profession is becoming and extension of the tax man.

If we don't do something to change it you had better get used to it

JVH

Handicapped Parking "I had no idea..."

Where do these people live their lives.  Here's the article. The Mass state inspector general says he's shocked, SHOCKED, that there's cheating going on with handicapped placards. Well not really in that way but you get the idea. A third of all the placards in use in downtown Boston were being used by someone who wasn't handicapped. Did you know that some of the placards were actually issued to people who were dead?  Are you amazed, stunned, or simply bored to tears by the government and its inability to property handle the handicapped sticker issue.

Andy tells me that he spoke to someone from an organization representing handicapped people and was told that they didn't want free placards, nor did they want free parking. They were happy to pay their way. They just needed access. That is a space that's a bit wider than most and near the elevator or ramp. Oh, and since it takes them longer to move around, they need more time allowed in the space. That' s it.

My guess is that in the article above, I could put the name of virtually any town, village, or city in the world in place of "Boston" and I could write virtually the same article, word for word. This problem is never going away until we get off our high horse and stop treating the handicapped like victims. The need a bit of extra help, lets give it to them. But free parking. They don't want it. Why do they get it.

If the parking wasn't free, there would be no benefit (except the wider space) for people to use handicapped placards. The black market in them would go away and all would be right with the world. Maybe even original sin would disappear and we would have world peace.

Ok, I exaggerate, but if the marketplace controlled handicapped parking, and the handicapped themselves were tasked with monitoring and issuing the permits, this problem would go away overnight.

JVH

White Plains Calls Parking Truce with Marines

According to the AP, the city of White Planes NY and the US Marines Corps has signed a truce, but it may be an uneasy one. The Marines' recruiting staff have run up a bill of $90,000 in unpaid parking tickets. The problem is that the Few, The Proud, etc say that it is up to the individual law breaker to fess up, and naturally with rotation and all, most of the folks who were driving the Corps owned vehicles are now off fighting in Iraq or whatever.

So they nailed the hapless leatherneck who is there now and through a plea bargain and a kind judge, got their towed vehicle back. He is going to pay his tickets. Now what about the other $89,000? My guess is that that money is history. A good lesson for cities to keep their receivables current.

JVH

Parking at Disneyland

Took the granddaughter, her mother, and her uncle (don't ask) to Micky's house the other Saturday. I hadn't been there in a couple of years and had never parked in the new Walker Parking designed structure across the street and down the road. I must say the 10,000 plus space garage is easy to find, get in to and get out of, well at least I think it is.

We drove directly off the freeway into the structure. We were directed to a specific space and parked. I'm told that if you give a Disney Parking Staffer the time of your arrival, they can tell you exactly where you car is.) About a five minute walk to the tram and then off to play with Mickey and co.

Upon returning, we simply drove out. We left before closing so there was no traffic. But I wonder what happens when the park closes and people begin to jam the place. Anyone had that experience? My son tells me that it can take a bit to get from the garage to the nearest freeway. But that' s usually the case with event parking. When you arrive, its easy. Its the leaving that the pain.

All in all, however, the parking experience was a good one. Good job to the the designers and to Disney and Co. As usual everything is first cabin.

By the way, they seem to have done something to the lines at the Magic Kingdom. With the exception of newly opened "Finding Nemo" which replaced the submarines in Tomorrowland, the average line was 20 minutes or less and that includes Pirates, Small World, Jungle Cruise and other biggies. This was a Saturday in the middle of summer.

Oh, yes,  the "redo" of Pirates, adding the saga of "Captain Jack Sparrow" is great. Interesting to note that the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie was based on the ride. Now the ride has changed to fit the series. Johnny Depp says that his greatest honor is having become a permanent attraction at Disneyland.

JVH

UK Permits Don't show Expriy date

The London Borough of Camden issued on street parking permits. They are very high tech with bar codes and all. The enforcement officers simply scan the bar codes and it tells the officer whether or not the permit had been renewed. When renewal time comes around, the permit holder simply sends in his money and the permit is renewed automatically..  They don't have to send out new permits. But there's the rub. Read all about it here.

The benefit of the new permit system is that there is no expiry date on the permit. The problem with the permit system is that there is no expiry date on the permit.  See the local parking adjudicator found that people can't be expected to remember a year later when their permit is to expire without a date on the permit. He also noted that the letter sent with the permit could easily be lost and the permit holder shouldn't be expected to keep it. ALSO he found that reminder notices sent out can get lost (in the mail, I assume) so that didn't help Camden council either.

The solution: They are sending out stickers with the reminder notices that people can put on their permits. My guess is that when people pay, they will receive another sticker to add to the first one. So why are we doing all this? Why not just send out a new permit every year with a date on the front that the enforcement folks and the permit holder can read and be done with it.

Make a rule that if you don't pay your parking fee by the end of the month on the permit, you get a ticket. The new systems first sends out a permit with a letter, then sends out a reminder letter, then when you pay, you get a third letter with a new sticker to put on your existing permit.

My way does away with all but the first letter, saves a fortune in postage and administration, and probably is easier to enforce. But it probably isn't high tech enough.

JVH

"Six sounds better then nine"

This article about the completion date of a parking garage is worth reading, if just for the "Yeah, right" factor. The gist is this.

At the local city council meeting the architect of a new garage said the completion time would be about six months. It infers that earlier the date was set at 6-9 months.The city manager then said that "six months sounds better than nine."

Well, yes, but is it realistic. I have absolutely no idea whether or not the garage can be built in six, nine, or even twelve months however my experience with construction, particularly when there is demolition involved, that construction scheduling is an art, and in some cases, a black art.

It will be interesting to follow up with the city of Gainesville about Christmas time and see if that which "sounds better" is in fact reality.

JVH

Provo

I commented on this issue last year right here in the blog. Look it up.  The deal is that folks living near BYU,  as with most people living near a university, are complaining that kids are parking in front of their houses/businesses and creating all sorts of mayhem. The solution, as being discussed in Provo, is to have resident permit areas. My solution, which is much easier to institute and will make a bunch of money, is to simply charge for parking on those streets.

Residents would be able to park one car on street without charge, a second car at a low rate. They could get permits for weekend parties. Outside of that, everyone pays.  My guess is that a lot of garages and driveways would be cleared out. And all those spaces behind businesses would be used. Kids wouldn't park there because they couldn't afford it and if they paid, so what. The money would go back in to new streets, lighting, sidewalks and etc for the neighborhood.

As it is now, they are in a political turmoil, with arguments raging over how many "free" permits a landowner can have, but of course apartment dwellers get fewer even though they may pay more property tax than the individual houses. Businesses are concerned.

Just be consistent, charge everyone, give the residents a little break, but not too much, and watch the problem solve itself.

JVH

Time to Spare -- Go by air

I ran across this survey. It tells a lot about both passengers and airlines. First read it:

PRINCETON, N.J., Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- The latest in a series of "Ouch Point" surveys from Opinion Research Corporation (an infoUSA Company, Nasdaq: IUSA) cites flight delays (16 percent) and "parking lots" on the tarmac (16 percent) as consumers' top complaints when traveling by air.

Causes of airline angst appear to vary significantly with age. Nearly one quarter of those respondents between the ages of 35 and 44 were aggravated by delayed or canceled flights, compared with only 13 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24. For younger respondents, lost luggage was the biggest source of irritation (18 percent).

"Strict safety regulations have contributed to a diminished customer experience in recent years," said Wayne Russum, Vice President at Opinion Research USA.

. "Airlines also have to contend with measures outside of their control, such as weather and traffic delays, which further impact the customer experience and can potentially damage the airline's reputation. Young adults appear to be more tolerant of these inconveniences than older generations are."

Although recent carry-on luggage restrictions did not appear to be a significant concern for most respondents, those between the ages of 18 and 24 (10 percent) were the most likely to take issue with having to reduce cabin baggage. Interestingly, the higher the household income, the more likely the respondent was to be annoyed by delayed or canceled flights (23 percent) and sitting on the runway for more than 30 minutes (21%).

The survey also revealed that a sizeable proportion of respondents (38 percent) did not believe that airlines are honest about the reasons for flight delays or cancellations.

Consumers top airline travel "Ouch Points" include: Delayed or canceled flights 16 % Sitting on the runway for more than 30 minutes 16 % Lost luggage 13 % Long lines for security 9 % Long lines at check-in 8 % Crowded flights where every seat is taken 7 % Carry-on baggage restrictions 5 % Rude flight attendants 4 %.

Opinion Research Corporation's "Ouch Point" series is a monthly survey examining tolerance thresholds in a variety of common scenarios facing Americans in both their professional and personal lives every day.

I find it amazing that people are upset about "parking" on the tarmac waiting to take off. The main reason for that, in virtually every case, is weather.  I flew from LA to Chicago the other day and there was a big thunderstorm sitting over O'Hare.  So we had to wait in LA for an hour and a half until the storm was passed and it was safe to land there.  What would the public have preferred? Just take off and when we got there to circle and then have to land in St Louis?  Or just roll the dice and try to land in the storm?  Are these people nuts.

RULE NUMBER ONE: When you fly, particularly in the summertime when weather is crazy, be sure you have enough time at the other end of the flight so you can be very late. If you have time constraints, go the day before. In any case, have a lot of reading with you so you have something to do while you wait.

I find it not quite so amazing that flyers feel that the airlines lie. Because they do. Usually not about weather, but certainly about mechanical problems. And if you catch them in one lie, you have to assume that they will lie about another.

RULE NUMBER TWO: It makes no sense for an airline to keep its planes on the ground, ever. They make money only when the plane is in the air. The longer it sits on the ground in one airport, the more it costs the airline. Period. So calm down, don't yell at anyone, and relax.

RULE NUMBER THREE -- For Airlines: For goodness sake, tell your passengers the truth, always. If you don't know, tell em you don't know. Or give it your best guess. But in every case, let them make decisions for themselves. If you are going to have to sit on the runway for 3 hours, let them get off if they want to before you go. Keep their bags (they have already been screened). Tell em they can rest on the ground and take a later flight or even another airline. I guarantee that 98% of them will sit on the plane and be very happy. Why? Because they made the decision, not you.

RULE NUMBER FOUR -- For Airlines: Let your crew in the planes make some decisions. If you are on a runway, after landing, and can't get to a gate for an hour, or two, or three, have them roll some stairs up to the plane, and let people get off and be trucked to the terminal. At least they can get some food, relax, and make arrangements. Keeping people on planes is the worst possible thing you can do. Believe it. Even if the terminal is crowded, people can decide to leave the airport, go home, go to a hotel, and sort out their bags later.

I note that people are worried about lost bags. I have discovered that bags don't get lost when you carry on. But that's just me. Some say thay have to check their bags because they have liquids. Cool. But remember, there is a risk. I know many who simply don't take liquids, or buy some when they arrive. Carry on is the way to go. I have a staff member who brings a suitcase the size of Montana for one night. Get real. My wife has taught me that you pack to fill the suitcase, not the trip. So if you want to take less, take a smaller case.

RULE NUMBER FIVE: Baggage will get lost, particularly if you are not on a non stop flight. The more stops, the bigger the chance for loss. If you are running late, assume you bag will not get there. The airlines try, but they simply cannot handle the baggage traffic perfectly. My guess is that 99.5% of all the bags get to where they are supposed to go, but that .5% can be a lot when you are dealing with millions of bags a day. If your bags are lost, relax. Most likely they will be delivered to your hotel or house by the next day.

And I just love the part about all the seats being taken. What? The airline is supposed to put fewer people on the flight so you can have an empty seat next to you? Are you nuts? You complain that the prices are too high and you want to raise them? Sheesh.

Just my comments on the summer air rush as I start a few more treks around the country in the next few weeks. Look for me in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City, Ft Lauderdale, Hollywood, CA, and most of Northern Jersey, assuming the plane is on time, of course.

JVH

Nothing Slips by PT Readers

I have gotten a number of emails like this one from Wade at PTI in Seattle:

John,

Great article in Parking Today, August issue, page 26, titled Revenue Control.  It really does bring to light what is in front of the parking team when it comes to retrofitting garages! 

I couldn't help however, to put the training that PT The Auditor has given me to use in your article.  The issue of proper controls and losses resulting from the lack of using them correctly kept coming to mind as I noticed the gate lids shown in the photo.  There they are, propped up next to the gate. I wondered to myself, why they are unlocked and open and what could they possibly be used for............Those of us loyal readers know to look for those signs and more...........Keep up the great work!

However the first person to notice the problem was PT the Auditor himself who called me 10 seconds after he opened his magazine and ribbed me about the "problem." I told him I would run the picture again if he wrote the copy. He did and the whole shebang is in September's magazine, at the printer today.

Curious? Here's the photo from August -- see the problem. Click on the photo to increase the size.

JVH

A GREAT Idea!!!

A Supermarket in Pennsylvania has begun charging neighbors for overnight parking and giving the money to charity. Here's the deal, as best I can parse it from this article.

The supermarket had about 60% of its space taken each day by folks who lived in the nearby neighborhood. This meant that their patrons had difficulty finding space when they came to shop. The store manager had an Idea. The said that he welcomed neighbors, but they had to pay to park. He charges a buck a day and issues them a permit. If they don't have a permit and park overnight, they can be ticketed and/or towed.

He gives the money to charity.

WOW -- what a great idea. People have to pay to park in the lot. Novel idea. And by charging, people thought twice about storing their cars there and his customer problem went away.

Of course the folks in the neighborhood are irate,. Imagine, having to pay to leave your car on someone's private property. They are going to the city council and complaining, probably asking the government to require that the landowner provide free parking to his neighbors who are not his customers.  Sure, makes perfect sense to me.

No good dead goes unpunished.

JVH

Horror of Horrors: It costs a lot to park your car in NYC or SF.

USA Today was looking for a story and they got this one. They discovered that hotels are charging more for parking, particularly in New York City and San Francisco. Well Duh. They are also charging more for their beds, too.

The basis for the article was a survey done by a hotel association that said that the amount of money received at hotels for parking is up 50% in an eight year period ending 2006. They didn't say that rates had increased 50%, but noted that hotels reported that more people were driving than they were a decade ago.

Fair enough. But think about it. The revenue is up 50% but the rates haven't increased 50%. Sure, you can find a couple of high end hotels in Manhattan or San Francisco where I has, but across the board. well that's the inference, but its very misleading.

Here's what I think. I think the majority of that money is money that's being collected now that wasn't collected 10 years ago. Hotels are looking closely at their parking and along with parking equipment manufacturers have developed systems to actually collect the money from guests who drive.

There are a number of ways that the money doesn't get collected. They include the desk clerk simply not knowing that they should charge the guest. The garage attendant cutting a separate deal with the parker. Guests "talking" their way out of the garage. And I'm sure you out there know a 100 more ways to keep the money from getting to the hotel.

New systems using the room keys for access, or those that connect every transaction in the garage with the front desk greatly increase the revenue, simply by collecting most or all of it.

Whatcha think?

JVH

Central Sells off its European Operations

Central has sold all its European Operations (except Greece) to APCOA. Here's the news release:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – (August 10, 2007) – Central Parking Corporation today announced that it
has completed the sale of its European operations to the APCOA Group. The sale includes the
Company’s operations in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, Spain and Switzerland.
The Company’s operations in Poland were sold previously to APCOA. Excluded from the sale
was the Company’s interest in its joint venture in Greece. The financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
“We are very pleased with this transaction, which is consistent with our previously announced
strategic plan,” said Emanuel J. Eads, President and Chief Executive Officer of Central Parking
Corporation. “One of the key components of our strategic plan is the divestiture of operations in
markets in which the Company has a small market share and significant barriers to growth.
Despite having a presence in the United Kingdom since 1991, our European operations
accounted for less than three percent of company revenues last year. Moreover, our operations
in these countries were largely stand alone businesses with virtually no common clients or
synergies with the rest of our company. Given our relatively low market share in these countries
and the multiples being paid for parking companies in Europe, we viewed this as an opportune
time to sell these operations.”

Well, I predicted this move here,  That was three weeks ago. Read PT's Blog and keep up to speed. According to Butch Eads, above,  the European group amounted to only about 3% of their revenues, but it had to be distracting. Remember, the sale of Central was about the real estate, most of which is on the block now. My guess is that in a few months we will see a very different Central Parking.

Stay Tuned.

JVH

These Folks Know the Story!!!

I can't say it better than this article from the "Aspen Times"

C'dale parking enforcement lax?

By John Stroud
Carbondale correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado
August 9, 2007

CARBONDALE — Carbondale’s Downtown Preservation Association wants the town to enforce and even expand its two-hour parking limit downtown, for fear of lost business if people can’t find a place to park.

“The Historic Downtown Preservation Association has been noticing a decline in store traffic in direct correlation to parking availability,” DPA co-chairs Chris Chacos and Ron Robertson wrote in a July 30 letter to Town Manager Tom Baker and the Town Council.

“We feel this adversely affects the amount of sales tax revenues collected for our community, and to ignore this is unwise for the town,” they wrote.

The problem seems to be stemming from two regular offenders, the letter points out.

First is the number of construction workers working on downtown area construction projects, who are taking up some of the town’s two-hour parking spots all day long.

“The two-hour parking signs mean nothing to them,” the DPA’s letter states.

The second routine offender, “we are sorry to have to report … are some of our own business owners and their employees abusing those unenforced posted two-hour parking signs …”

Chacos and other DPA members will be at the Aug. 14 Town Council meeting to discuss the matter. But the problem, Chacos said he’s been told, is there’s no money budgeted for regular parking enforcement.

So, he’ll be asking for the town to allow downtown business owners to take matters into their own hands to advise people who are seen to be parked downtown for more than two hours at a time.

The DPA has come up with a courtesy card to place on the windshields of offending vehicles, reading: “We noted that you’ve been parking here over two hours, and we’re hoping you won’t receive a ticket … this time!

“By shopping in Carbondale your sales tax helps to fund our town’s services … parks … police … upgrading our streets … snow removal … and many other services,” it continues. “So, we are kindly asking you to please restrict your parking to two hours at a time so that others, too, may enjoy the convenience of in-and-out shopping.”

The card goes on to point out that there are three free parking areas that long-term parkers can use, including the public parking near Town Hall along Fourth and Colorado, and the parking lot next to the Centennial Building on Main, which the private owners of the Crystal Theatre lease to the town for public parking.

The DPA would also like the town to consider expanding the two-hour restriction to the street parking along Fourth Street between Main and Colorado Avenue. And some “quick-service” types of businesses would like for the town to establish some half-hour spaces.

They get it.  Go Carbondale...Carbondale rules....Carbondale rocks!!!

JVH

Heh

It didn't take long. The businesses of San Francisco backing the proposal to allow more parking in the city have yielded to the council and will not actively campaign for the new law. In exchange the council has agreed to consider a proposal to allow more parking in certain select areas. 

What do you think is ultimately going to happen? Could this just be a delaying tactic by the council to get the business proponents off their backs for a few months?  Time will tell

JVH

An interesting Lunch

I met today with Dave Mitchell and Bryan Levy, CEO and VP of MitchCo. Their claim to fame -- they have secured the US rights to Trevi Parking of Italy. For those of you who follow such things, Trevi parking is a division of Trevico, a huge manufacturer of heavy construction equipment in Italy. They make machines that build tunnels and dig large holes. And from what I understand, they are good at it.Trevi parking makes a unique automated parking system that sits in an underground silo and looks like a multi layered lazy Susan.You drive on to a platform and the system takes your car down into the garage.  Check out the video here.

As usual, I told Dave that while his pitch was interesting and his cause no doubt honorable, I'm still from Missouri when it comes to these types of projects.  As of this date, I'm aware of three working systems and one under construction (New York, DC, Hoboken, and under construction, Boston.)  There may be more but it there are, they are hiding their light under a bushel.

Dave Mitchell is the consummate pitch man. He has the energy and the drive to make this happen. He certainly is excited about this product.  I wish them all the best. Check them out at www.mitch-co.com.

JVH

PS -- For those who were wondering, yes, that's the company Arturo Ressi's was heading in the US during Boston's "Big DIg."  He also attended numerous parking events and was one of the original members of the Automated and Mechanical Parking Association.

Permits a "last resort" in the resort home of Mickey and Donald

They can't figure out how to keep all those pesky people who come to see the Angels and Ducks, and visit Mickey and Donald, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the city, out of the local neighborhoods. Those villains, those miscreants (see post below)!!!

So the city council, in its infinite wisdom, is telling locals that as their last resort, they can impose parking permit zones on themselves. Brother. One of the rules of the zones is that the apartment owners must be certain that all cars in their garages are in working order. And who is going to be the "broken car" police. And who is to say that a car that is dusty and dirty simply has an owner that doesn't look after the vehicle. Oh, this is a mess.

Once again, why not solve the problem this way. Set up the district, give each resident one permit and have them pay for a second one. Not a huge amount, but enough so they think about it, maybe $20-40 a month. Then charge visitors to park on the streets (after 5 and in weekends, to start). Most people would pay the Angels, Ducks, or Mickey the $10 or $15 bucks to park in their facilities rather than pay the city $20 and/or risk a ticket. The money generated could go back into the neighborhoods. Those people with broken cars would either fix or sell them rather than pay for on street parking, and all would be right with the world.

Of course every politician in sight will have problems with this plan. After all they are all about being elected, not solving problems.

JVH

Ah, at least someone knows the King's English

I read the following from the Hindustan Times in Delhi, India.

A 28-year-old man, Jaspreet Singh, was allegedly beaten up by five men in Model Town area of North Delhi following a fight over parking.

The incident took place on Wednesday at around 11 p.m. when Singh was coming out of a snooker club in Model Town-II along with his friend Rahul. "As soon as we came out of the club and were about to sit inside the car, a man approached us and started arguing with us. He asked us why we parked the car in front of his house.

There were heated exchanges," said Rahul, who was accompanying Singh. Rahul said four more men joined the man who was arguing with Singh and then they started raining blows on him. "They attacked my friend with a wooden stick. We made a call to the PCR," added Rahul.

Though the victim was in the hospital for two days, the police registered a case only on Friday night. Singh was discharged on Saturday afternoon. The police said they have identified the miscreants and are investigating the case.

I just love the fact that they used the word "miscreants" in a newspaper article. Now if they could just figure out how to fix my computer...

JVH

Stan Cramer may win another one

Stan Cramer, assuming his deal with the airport goes through this week, must be sitting pretty, and the airport is two for two, losses, that is.

They have lost their bid to steal Stan's business by eminent domain, and they appear also to have lost their suit to stop the local school district from charging them a tax on their parking. Read the story, here.

The logic goes like this. All businesses in the area pay property taxes and that property tax, or a portion of it, goes to the school district. However the airport pays no property taxes and takes up a lot of land and generates a lot a money but its all outside the school's ability to tax. So the parking tax is a way to get around that little issue.

From Stan's point of view it has to be great. He pays taxes on his property located next to the airport, and has to compete with them for cars to park in his off airport lot. He is obviously at a pricing disadvantage, since the airport parks cars and doesn't pay any tax, but he does.

Of course the airport won't eat the tax, they will pass it along to their patrons. Fine. Stan has to do that now, and the airport will be forced to compete in the real world, not the government world.

Ah, for the level playing field.

JVH

Baghdad by the Bay does it again

Ah, if I need some fodder, I simply look to see what Rachael Gordon at the SF Chronicle has written this week, and there it is. (No, Rachael reports the facts just fine, its the facts that boggle the mind.) For those that don't know, it looks like all things parking have been assigned to her desk. This week is a great one. Read it here.

It seems there are dueling proposals going in the city by the Bay. First of all there is the "Tony Bennett" proposal, that will ensure that the local public transportation system keeps running even though it seems it can't pay for itself. The little cable cars climbing halfway to the stars, the municipal railway, and the bus system will be preserved by continuing a ban (or at least severe limits) in new parking garages in the city. What this means is that there will continue to be no parking available in many areas where parking is desperately needed. The idea is to force people who wish to live, work, or play in the city to sell their cars and take the bus, train, or cable car, or walk.

The other proposal sponsored by local business folks, wants to relax the parking restriction so the private sector can build garages and parking spaces to support the housing and local businesses where needed. Now I'm sure that the local business folk are not stupid. They aren't going to build more spaces than they need. The new parking will relieve the stress on the street parking, will support the businesses, and may actually solve some problems.

Ben Franklin said (yes, that Ben Franklin, look it up) that insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  San Francisco is doing the same thing over and over and expecting to solve its problems. Well, DUH.

Its soooo simple -- Remove the parking restrictions, set on street rates at market rates, and take the money generated and plow it back into the local neighborhoods. The free market will take care of the rest.

San Fran is restricting parking, has incredibly low on street rates, and takes the money and uses it to run a train that doesn't go where a lot of folks live and obviously can't pay its own way.

Is it any wonder we named our award for most incredibly brain dead parking ideas after this beautiful, fun, and exciting city. Too bad the parking is chaos.

JVH

Right...

I"m sorry, but with these guys it's guilty until proven innocent.:

  Houston Rockets guard Rafer Alston Monday denied that he assaulted a parking attendant early Sunday morning. The Houston Chronicle, quoting police, reported that Alston, 31, was charged with public intoxication and assault after shaking and spitting in the face of a parking attendant in downtown Houston.

"Apparently the parking attendant saw that Rafer had parked illegally, did not pay the attendant, and had the vehicle towed," Houston Police spokesman Gabe Ortiz told the newspaper.Alston assaulted the man when he returned and realized his vehicle had been towed, Ortiz said.

"Didn't do either. Never did nothing to the guy," he said. "We got into a shouting match. My car was towed and I was basically asking the parking attendant where he had my car towed to," Alston told the television station. "He blew me off once or twice and we got into a shouting match. There were no hits, nothing transpired. The guy runs off and yells down the street, like, he needed an officer over here.

"Before you know it, the officer puts me in cuffs and takes me downtown."

Both charges are misdemeanors.

The NBA players are on balance a bunch of thugs. They are overpaid children and have their way with society with impunity. This is but one in a long string of like incidents, many more vicious. He's going to have to do a lot of dancing to convince me that it didn't happen. Proper English would be nice, too. He was apparently drunk, parking in the wrong place, and since it infers it was a pay on entry lot, didn't pay. The attendant was right in having his car towed, and probably saved his life or some innocent by keeping him from driving while under the influence.

JVH

What will be the excuse next time

I have come across an article in the past couple of days about a meeting is called off because too many wanted to come and there wasn't enough parking. Read it here.

Give me a break. The article states that " attendees couldn't be guaranteed parking" so the meeting was called off. HUH  Since when was parking a guarantee?  And at the same time, was it "parking that wasn't guaranteed, or was it "Free parking" that wasn't guaranteed.

I can't tell from the story, but the inference is that a previous meeting on the topic (Taxi fares in DC) was held in a smaller venue and it wasn't canceled. I also note that no new time and location for the meet was set.

I may be just a cynic, but I'll just bet that there was something more to the cancellation and that lack of parking was just an excuse. After all, particularly with this topic, folks could certainly have taken a cab.

JVH

Stan Cramer - Cramer Airport Parking

Many of us have been following the eminent domain theft of Stan Cramer's Airport Parking operation by the Harrisburg (PA) Airport. Many years and many dollars later, Stan reports that they are nearing a resolution. We should get confirmation in a few days, but the word is that the airport has capitulated and is withdrawing its condemnation of Stan's property.

It was a long fight to protect his company from being seized by a competitor. Stan is fortunate he had the pockets to make it happen.

Good Job.

JVH

Back to the Blog

So Sorry -- A combination of personal life, travel, magazine deadline and just plain summer blaaz has kept the number of blog posts at a minimum lately. I'm back in the saddle and should be caught up on parking news and rumors any day now.

JVH