Parking World

Further on Parking Wars and Our Image

From a reader in Australia:

I enjoyed your article on "Better than parking wars".  I agree with you, we are better than that.

The question of how to improve the image of the industry is a vexing question. The bulk of our industry interaction with Mr and Mrs Citizen is with our lowest skilled staff members and quite often the employees are nameless and faceless unless something goes wrong or unless the media have beaten it out of all proportion. Some of the Municipalities in Australia seem to be able to project a positive image or at the least an image of proactively. The customer interface (The moment of truth) is always the most difficult task. I wonder if empowerment is part of the answer. Surely we can give our officers the power to "make a call" on payments, citations or whatever the issue is. I recall some time back working in an area that converted to a no standing zone at 4:00PM. At 3:45 the Municipality commissioned two officers to walk the street and walk into the retail outlets and advise the retailers that they had 15 minutes to get their customers to move. The Municipality may have lost a little revenue but gee they gained fantastic goodwill and when a fine was issued, there was little complaint from the retailers.  

I don't have the answer but I feel better and constant communication is part of the answer. Maybe a code of practice would assist in so much as the public could get to know how an officer and a City goes about its business. The parking wars program is like the air carrier programs we get in Australia ( and presumably you get in the States). The mayhem and absurdity that ensues when a plane is delayed or a passenger is 2 minutes late is bizarre. Then I only to get to see the extreme examples because  the media are looking for a ratings story. 

I agree empowerment is the key. Southwest airlines and Nordstrom's were able to build its reputation for customer service on the fact that front line managers could make decisions that other companies required 15 minutes on the phone with higher level supervisors. We had a long post on our facebook page about a parker who lost her ticket and the attendant remembered when she came in, gave her a replacement ticket and enabled her to get it validated. Saved her $5 and made her a fan for life. That post was criticized by a parking operator because it indicated that all control had been lost at that location. I think that attendant should be given a medal.

Giving the citation officers the ability to make the decision to void a ticket when someone walks up as they are writing it, or perhaps following Don Shoup's suggestion in February's "PT" and graduating parking fines so folks with one ticket get a warning and those with three pay through the nose might help more that all the PR activity and stories about toys for tickets and parking attendants taking a bullet for a parker.

 

JVH

We Deserve Better Than "Parking Wars"

How do you have a professional industry if you don't have a modicum of self-respect? Look – I'm the first guy to set myself up for a few laughs, most richly deserved. Self-deprecation is a tool used by most in the public eye to increase their public image. Fair Enough.

But I believe that the trait can be taken too far, and the ongoing series "Parking Wars" does that. I understand that the folks at the Philly Parking Authority and the series' producers think that the end result of the show is positive (it's now spread to Detroit). The enforcement staff has been quoted as saying that the attitude of Philly parkers toward them has been much more positive since the series has begun. Obviously the public likes it. It's been renewed for another season and Hollywood doesn't make series that don't sell. Heck –even the IPI promoted it at its convention last year.

It's a reality show. It's inexpensive to make and the fans eat it up. It's right up there with Survivor, The Bachelorette, Housewives of New York City, Hh Hell's Kitchen. I don't know where it falls rating wise with Survivor and Hell's Kitchen (it's not syndicated as widely as these two) but they are of the same genre. Basically reality shows depict people at their worst. They are shown making fools of themselves and the public eats it up. In our case, the "reality actors" yell and scream while the poor browbeaten enforcement staff takes the guff and come back for more. The story line is perfect. Yep – parking causes problems and there are plenty of people to react negatively to it.

We begin to feel sorry for enforcement; after all they are only doing their jobs. Parking brings out the worst in bad people. Yep – and we can see it every week just before "Losing it with Jillian." Self-deprecation is good in small doses. I can err once in a while in my column and then "eat crow." But if I did it every day, it would be a bore.

We are a professional industry. We generate billions in revenue each year. We built large building that house our product. We create millions of jobs. We deal with the public every day, day after day. Our errors cause huge political upheavals. We touch almost every aspect of daily life. We have a lot of which to be proud. Can't we somehow tell that story? Parking Wars certainly doesn't.

I remember the guy on the first tee a few years back responding to my being in the Parking Business. "Oh, yeah, parking. Isn't that the scuzzy business sort of like garbage collection?" He had us nailed. Just like Parking Wars. Our people work in a not so good part of town. They deal with life's more unsavory characters. They enforce laws that we would really rather not be enforced.

I prefer to think my industry is made up of innovators who are trying new ideas almost daily. SF Park, Pay by Cell, Credit cards on meters, Pay and Display, Pay on Foot, Parking guidance, automated parking systems, in street data collection, parking apps, LED lighting - they all work toward making parking easier for our customers.

You want "Green." Parking can give you green in spades. Whether its LEED approved structures or solar panels on the roof, it's there. What about the recent campaign to get charging stations in garages or systems to speed up parking and thus reduce pollution? The concept of market based on street pricing of parking could actually do more to reduce congestion in downtown areas than all the rules and laws considered by many city councils.

We are a good industry. We are coming of age. We are a proud group of pros who make lives easier for drivers every day.

I think we deserve better than "Parking Wars."

 

JVH

Take the Parking Enforcement Challenge

The UK Department of Transport has released Civil Parking Enforcement Statistics for 2009-2010 in a new report and some of the findings are noteworthy. It seems that challenging a Penalty Charge Notice (PCN) – the UK parking ticket – often pays off for the motorist.

The report states, “The number of PCNs challenged in 2009/10 was 1.84 million (on-street) and 0.50 million (off-street).”

“As a result of these challenges, 0.86 million on-street PCNs were cancelled in 2009/10 … and 0.30 million off-street PCNs were cancelled …”

This means that almost half of the on-street PCNs and more than half of the off-street offences were cancelled!

These stats may support the accusations regularly raised in the UK media about questionable parking enforcement practices, addressed in a recent Parking World article by our UK parking expert Peter Guest.

AA president Edmund King is quoted in the Mirror saying, “While we welcome the fact that almost half of the drivers who appealed against unfair parking tickets won their cases, we must question why so many of these drivers were given tickets in the first place."

Read the UK Department of Transport report here.

 

Pete Goldin

It Isn't Easy Being Green

Can any car park ever be "green"? Lloyd Alter, a Toronto architect and professor, has written an interesting article in Treehugger posing this question. The title says it all: LEED or Not, Parking Garages Are Not Green.

I know what you are thinking, Treehugger is never going to be pro-car park, but the argument stands. He says, "Can a parking garage ever be green? Hardly; when you build more parking, you get more cars; If you want people to get rid of cars, get rid of parking spaces. Make it tougher to park."

Even if this logic is correct, unless we are planning on eliminating cars off the planet entirely, it doesn't make much sense to attack parking garages that strive for LEED certification. These are some of the most progressive car park facilities in the world. They are making an attempt to be sustainable, and they are taking the lead that should be followed by others in the global industry.

Reducing available parking, especially in congested urban areas, is a legitimate approach that progressive cities are moving toward. But I don't think this means car parks should not strive to follow the LEED guidelines, or make any other attempts to be sustainable. Both approaches can go hand-in-hand as part of an overall "green" strategy.

So, to the LEED-certified parking facilities, I applaud your efforts.

 

Pete Goldin

What Does This Mean?

Our wonderful Frenchie, Scarlett Ambroziak, denizen of deepest Strasbourg and frequent poster on Parking Today's Facebook page, came up with a question. What does this picture mean? Scarlett tells me she is involved with PT's Facebook so she can better her English skills, but in this case, she is right on the money. This legend on a parking space brings a lot of scary things to mind. Check out Scarlett and the rest of the group at PT Facebook.

 

JVH

Westminster, You Almost Feel Sorry for Them

Westminster City Council seems to just attract bad news these days. They totally messed up re-tendering their street parking contract, and after two goes and a few days in Court and a legal bill topping £1m the matter's not really bottomed out yet. And then there was the run in with the European Regulators about their Partners in Parking Scheme where the EU bods ruled they had done wrong and they released a press notice saying that they had been exonerated! Plus the nasty business with the motorcyclists and a few adjudicator rulings where they were told they had erred and then announced the judgement was wrong. Here’s a tip guys: when the judge says bad, say sorry, not put your fingers in your ears and hum loudly.

Anyway the good old BBC has now dug up another little bit of bad news - well actually a whole big can of bad news - the city is currently owed something over £18m in unpaid parking tickets and I suspect that figure is pretty conservative. They have 180,000 unpaid tickets and are currently pursuing 85,000 warrants for non-payment. Local Councils are currently having their budgets cut by 20% or more by central government so it’s not a good time to be hiring but for £18m you think maybe they would get some extra help in.

 

Peter Guest