PT's Parking Blog

Saturday in the Capital

Parking is easy in London on Saturday. Lots of space - in fact, I think that
their new pricing program has worked. People are either parking in off
street structures, or riding public transportation As I look out my window,
I can see a dozen available spaces at 11 AM. I'm two blocks from the most
active shopping area in the City. (Oxford Street.) Heading for Atlanta
Tomorrow and an interview with a major parking operator. Stay tuned.

JVH

So Sorry...

It's time for my annual whine about how everyone in the UK is constantly apologizing for something. If it's because they are in front of you (legitimately) in line, or because you have to wait 10 seconds for your Big Mac, it's because they are replacing the water mains or building a new building across the street. Huge signs appear stating something like "We are replacing the water mains so that you can have fresh water, we apologize in advance for the inconvenience to you for our actions."

Why not something like this: "We are replacing the water mains to bring you fresh water. Thanks for putting up with our dust. You are going to like it when we are finished." I guess this apologizing comes from a society that grew up on tipping their hats or pulling on their forelock to those in higher stations. For me, I don't like it.

I was just walking up the street and saw a woman, smoking, talking on the phone, and walking directly toward me. I stopped. She nearly hit me. She then said – "What's the matter with you, can't you say "sorry." When apologizing becomes a national past time it loses all meaning.

Maybe our president got the idea for his apologizing to the world from the Brits. I don't mind telling someone you are sorry that their toe hurts when you stepped on their foot, or saying "excuse me" when you have to go to the restroom on the airplane. That's simple courtesy. But to apologize in advance for something that may or may not have caused any problem, and certainly for something that is going to make their lives easier and better, seems to me to be a sign of weakness. I'm with you Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

JVH

Detriot Joins “Parking Wars”

Detriot Joins "Parking War's"

Andy reports that Detroit Municipal Parking Department is joining Philadelphia as another foil for the fabulous "hit" show, Parking Wars. It boggles the mind how a city could set itself up to such ridicule, but then, Detroit has been beaten about the head and shoulders by our illustrious government, automobile unions, the environmental lobby, and practically everyone else, so why not?

The Motor City has a reputation for one of the most notorious downtown areas in the country. One can imagine what the producers of the TV program will do to the poor folks who are charged with enforcing the parking regulations in a city of high unemployment, low salaries, and high numbers on the government dole. But then, I can guess that the story isn't the same if one were to film in Beverly Hills, Palm Beach, or Tiburon.

As has been commented here before, perhaps it's the check from Hollywood that catches the eye of the local administration, and not the bad publicity that inevitably will come from this. It makes no difference whether the enforcement staff is shown in a good or bad light, there is no positive PR from "Parking Wars." The mere name invokes the "spin" placed by the producers.

It's not called "Parking Peace" for a reason.

JVH

But what about the US?

In the post below I got input from European vendors about the economic recovery. Comments about the US market were absent. What's that all about?

I know zip about economics. I believe, however, that most success is based on emotion. If people believe that things are going well, they will invest, grow, create, take risks, and spend money. If they are uncertain, have fear, they will "hunker down" and wait it out.

Unfortunately that is what we are seeing in the US. The government is in disarray. It is attacking problems on every front and not succeeding at any of them. From what we can see, the "Stimulus "package was a bust. We are now focusing on recreating a sixth of our economy (Obama care), creating the largest deficits in history, taking over our financial and automotive industries, trying to ensure we pollute less by raising prices of energy, beginning trade wars with our trading partners, giving billions to other countries to drill for oil while preventing drilling here at home, and spending our time apologizing for the past 50 years of American successes worldwide.

Our government has nothing positive to say about free enterprise, our capitalist system, and is placing the blame for the problems we have on the very people who can take us out of the economic nosedive, the individual entrepreneurs and risk takers, rather than where it belongs, with the corrupt members of congress that set in motion the downfall of our housing, lending, and financial institutions.

So the folks who create jobs (the government never created a non governmental job), invest, pay taxes, and build our economy are worried. What is coming down the pike? Do we have an environment where investment will thrive, or will the return be taxed away? Who knows? So why take the risk. Invest in Asia, Australia, Brazil, India. Economic powerhouses that looked at the recession, shrugged, and then carried on.

One of the fellows at the EPA mentioned to me that China is worried that its growth rate is down to 8%. He laughed. The US would kill for an annualized growth of 3%. He was a German.

We will be back, but it will take a change in Washington. Maybe if the midterm elections next year show that the populace has had enough and is willing to "throw the bums out" the confidence level will return. If not – it will be long tough slog and we will be left in the dust.

Can anyone say "Parking World?"

JVH

And Now the Good News

I spent today in Vienna at the European Parking Association's Biennial conference. Two conversations stood out.

I spoke with an international consultant. He told me that last year about this time his business just dried up. Projects were put on hold. "There is no money." Two weeks ago, his phone began ringing off the hook. He now has more business than he can handle. "They are calling from everywhere, from Jamaica, From Lebanon, and from the UK. There is a lot of work to be done in parking."

The second group was from one of the largest manufacturers of parking equipment in Europe. They said that for them, too, the market has rebounded strong. "Deals that were put on hold are active again. With the exception of Spain, and Italy, Europe is booming, as is the Middle East, Australia, and East Asia"

Wow – that's terrific news.

The EPA is extremely happy with its show this year. Comments from the vendors were that the IPI was slow, but the EPA was rocking. Good Traffic, and high quality attendees. I looked at the content of the presentations. They were top of the line. That brings good people.

Parking is coming back.

JVH

In this case, the same old story is not a “fight for love and glory”

I think some people just don't think things through. Correspondent Mark sends in this story from Jamestown, NY

 

''The parking meters were a major hassle,'' she said. ''Not only the expense, which is out of line, but having to take time away from my customers to go feed the meter just wasn't working. You can't leave customers alone in your store. It wasn't theft I was concerned with - you've got to be available to answer questions or unlock a case if someone needs it. It's not right to just up and leave.''

 

If you read the story, you find that there is a lot across the street where they can get monthly parking – also a structure that, although under repair, provides off street parking. But NO. This merchant sees the failure of downtown through the eyes of someone who parks on street, runs up tickets, takes spaces from her clients, and can't figure out how to park so she doesn't have to leave her store empty to "feed the meter."

 

My God, if anyone deserved to fail, this one does.

JVH

More on “Nothing good to say”

I took out after a MSM reporter in my snarky remarks below about an article that took only one side to a story about parking enforcement. I got this from the reporter:

I'm sorry that we never finished our conversation. My story for today veered quite a bit from where we were going, and the clock ran out on me.

 

Your blog contains valid arguments and I'm glad you've written them down. A commenter on my site just pasted most of the contents of your recent entry on my story in the comments area. I'm happy to have them there, as I feel it rounds out the story. But the words are yours, and if you feel the inclusion of what looks like the entirety of your entry violates your copyrights, let me know, and I will remove them or turn the commenter's thought's into an excerpt.

 

Thanks again for your time,

Bob

How wonderfully gracious. He may not be the most curious reporter but his parents did raise him well.

JVH

“Forwarded Emails”

I enjoy getting jokes, letters, and stories forwarded to me. I take them for what they are. Gossip. Probably not true, but fun to read and laugh at.

I have a friend that sends me a cartoon almost every day. It's not political, religious, or dirty, just funny. And it's great to get it. It's about some dog who seems to run everyone's lives and is smarter than all the humans put together.

I do have a couple of bones to pick with people who forward emails. First – why, if they think that it is good enough to send to everyone they know, can't they clean it up a bit. I really don't want to have to scroll down through hundreds of forwarded addresses to get to the meat of the matter. It takes about 10 seconds to delete all those, and also helps with some privacy issues.

Second, and this is the big one, I hate the way many heap guilt. "Send this on to 10 people you know or someone will die in India." "Please don't break the chain; this has been around the world ten times." That one is great, because the chances are that if I sent it to a friend in Ohio, it could travel through Hong Kong, India, Europe, and a little building west of Washington DC before it got here. I just forwarded on touching email about soldiers in combat. It demanded that I forward it both at the beginning and the end. I deleted those requests, and then forwarded it.

So, I make it a point of removing all the "please forward" lines. If people think it's good enough they will forward it on their own. If they don't, so be it.

JVH

Nothing Good to Say about Parking Enforcement

Wow, I may be involved in this

Here is an on line article written by one Bob Sullivan, a reporter from MSNBC. It seems Mr. Sullivan has been aggressively researching parking and citation writing for the past few days. I was one of his sources. Of course not one word of what I said was in his article. I guess it wasn't negative enough.

 

He started off asking about the law suit between Duncan and ACS. I told him I knew nothing, but felt that as in all such contests, each side probably had a story, and he should talk to them.

I then went on my usual trip about how parking fees can change the way people act. That if fees are set properly, there will be less pollution, less cruising, more spaces available for people who need to park in the area. I was about to go on about how many parking tickets never get written, but then we had to stop and were to pick it up again later. Of course he never did call back.

 

I was particularly struck in the article with the part about people who park too near corners at alleyways and driveways. To wit:

"I recently got a ticket for parking in a space on the street that I have been parking in for three years at least and never had a problem," one resident wrote recently in an Internet group devoted to parking frustrations.   Said another: "We've received the unwanted attention of an overzealous meter maid.  (She) recently began ticketing residents' cars for being too closely parked to our own driveways. Our 3 tickets state we have to park at least 5 feet away from a driveway … our own driveway.

 

Personally, after blocking fire hydrants, I think this is one of the worst parking violations. When you park too close to a corner, the driver backing out or driving out of the alley or driveway can't see up or down the street. You are causing a great safety hazard. I note our interpret reporter didn't ask the violators if they thought they were causing a safety problem when they parked too close to a driveway. I guess that isn't important.

 

He comments about New York hiring 200 more enforcement officers this year, but missed the fact that the income didn't go up in sync with the new hires. I guess finding out why wasn't on the agenda.

 

Readers of this blog know that I am the first to step up and say that parking should not be a revenue generator to replace lost taxes. And if it does generate a substantial amount, then that money should be plowed back into the streets and neighborhoods from wince it came. However I also know that balance is not the goal of most reporters. They see the "spin" and then pile it on. There was not one single positive word in this article about parking, and not one quote from an enforcement officer, his manager, or the like.

 

A question Mr Sullivan might have asked is if enforcement of the law was so horrible, why isn't the law changed? Rather than blame enforcement officers (Meter maids, he calls them), why not blame the people who passed the laws in the first place. If a rule is too stringent, then change it. There is absolutely no sense to saying "Oh, there's a law, but the cops should ignore it because I don't like it." If you don't like it, get your city council to change it.

 

Of course, when you do that, you find that there is a reason for the laws. I just roared at this one:

How aggressive is enforcement? Bolofsky said he's seen New York drivers get tickets for double-parking merely because they are waiting for someone to pull out of a spot on the street - a time-honored practice in the competitive world of city parking.

 

I have driven in the big apple and one of the major problems is double parking, particularly cross town. You can't get up and down the streets. People just stop and wait. It is a major hassle. I'll bet if Mr. Sullivan were to interview the 20 people who had to wait while someone double parked and ran in for a latte or waited for a parking space, he would get a different kind of ear full.

 

Plus we are dammed by the very technology that makes ticket writing more fair and accurate:

If the system feels cold and unforgiving, that's partly because many cities are using new technology that cuts out human interaction -- and the criminal justice system -- from the process. In Seattle, a pair of lawsuits are contesting the use of cameras to detect and cite speeders. Twenty area municipalities are named in the suit. In the city of Seattle, a new camera system wrote 58,000 tickets valued at $5 million in its first three months of operation.

Because the contracts promise a minimum payment to the cities, and the manufacturer agreed to split citation collections after that, one of the lawsuits contends the system gives "the cities and the vendors an illegal incentive to issue improper tickets and to err on the side of issuing a ticket versus declining to issue the ticket."

Meanwhile, handheld electronic ticket issuing machines are sweeping municipalities, allowing meter maids to write more tickets – and more important, reduce errors that lead to dismissals.  One manufacturer, DXY Solutions Inc., says switching to handhelds increases a single officer's ticket-writing productivity by 30 percent.

Other new technology seems downright mean-spirited. Parking meters invented and sold by the French firm Technolia send texts messages to local police the very instant that a meter clicks down to zero.

 

So now we are lumped in with speeders and red light cameras. Will it never end? The technology he quotes above of course enables enforcement to write more tickets, but it also ensures that they are more accurate, clearer, and cuts down on errors. Of course, that in itself seems to be a problem for our hero. After all, if someone is caught breaking the law, and can't weasel out of it, that too, is a problem.

 

If Mr. Sullivan had called back, and he probably won't after this blog, I would have told him about how parking fees can speed traffic, lower congestion, ensure that space is available for merchants, and can be one of the greenest things we know. I may not think that "green" is a particularly wonderful virtue, but most do, and parking fees and fines certainly are as green as it gets.

 

In most every case cited in his article, the people had broken the law and were upset because they had broken it before and gotten by with it but now they were nailed. It's just not fair, I parked in a red zone 10 times and didn't get a ticket, but now, I got one. Those bastards. I'm not responsible for my actions and the results for them, it's the damn "meter maids," and the money grubbing city.

 

It the problem that enforcement has been stepped up? Or is it that people are taking less responsibility for their actions? In the "good old days" we got a ticket and we were embarrassed and we paid it and next time we put another quarter in the meter. Today it's the fault of technology, aggressive enforcement, or whatever.

There is not one comment on the fact that these people are breaking the law. Sigh

 

 

JVH

 

Worst Parking Jobs Ever

Here are some pix of folks who just outdid themselves parking their cars (scroll down a bit when you get to the link.

I have to point out, that judging from the license plate numbers, street signs, and architecture, the majority of these puppies are from Europe, not the US.

And I think I know the reason. They simply can't figure out how to make parking spaces large enough for Minis, halfway for cars of a regular size.

JVH