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