Cities begin to remove parking meters

[gatorback]

From www.parking.com lol

Central Parking Corporation is a leader in the increasing privatization of municipal parking and transportation services. The Company has a well-established position in providing on-street parking enforcement and parking-meter servicing in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Berlin and a number of other European cities as well as in Vancouver, British Columbia; Baltimore County, Md.; Charlotte and Wilmington, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Toledo, Oh.; and Daytona Beach, Fl.

[Midway ®]

This is the new world of "parking as a municipal revenue source". Unfortunately, there is not really enough parking volume in the downtown to generate enough revenue to both satisfy CPS's revenue expecations and also have a significant positive impact on the city budget. So the obvious split would therefore be 95/5.

[Midway ®]

If Peyton & Co. are as serious as they say they are about revitalizing downtown, removing the meters would be one of the most cost effective actions to take.

Other than the three guys that make up the slimy downtown parking lot industry, everyone would love him for it.

I think that they are more seamy than slimy.

[gatorback]

Touché Midway.  And to think you communicated that without blatantly offending the community.

[Midway ®]

Do you speak for that community?

[vicupstate]

This is a way to see how much of an affect parking meters have on DT commerce, without having to remove them.  Why not try it.  It has worked well for 15 years in Charleston. From the Post and Courier:

Fifteen years after Charleston started offering free holiday parking vouchers in the city garages, the program remains a success in directing dollars toward downtown businesses, snagging cash that otherwise might have gone elsewhere in a competitive economy.

More than 15,000 of the free, two-hour vouchers were redeemed in city garages last year, bringing in a significant amount of spending power and giving merchants better opportunities to make sales.
 
"It dispels the sense that it is inconvenient to come downtown," Scott Watson, director of cultural affairs for the city of Charleston, said of the voucher program.

The free vouchers began going into circulation this week. They are available in city government offices, at local businesses and have been mailed in Charleston Water System bills.

They are also available online for printing through the charlestonarts.org web calendar, and also will be shared via Facebook, Twitter and the Office of Cultural Affairs email newsletters.

The are valid through Jan. 1 for two hours of parking in 12 designated city garages.

Susan Lucas, operating partner of King Street Marketing Group, which promotes King Street business activity, said the vouchers are "icing on the cake" in trying to draw people downtown.

"I know that merchants love them," she said.

"It's not just that they get free parking, the vouchers tell them where to go," she said of the printed list of parking garages, their location around the city and other weekly events printed on them.

The group also has a web link to the vouchers: christmasonkingstreet.com.

City officials don't track how many of the coupons lead to actual sales, though, or how many are used by people looking to avoid paying for short-term parking.

[IrvAdams]

I like this idea, it's a great start. The whole concept of parking meters is lost on me, to be honest. If you want income, earn it from garages or even surface lots but timed street meters and the cost of associated enforcement, etc?  Maybe someone can explain the logic?

[spuwho]

I like this idea, it's a great start. The whole concept of parking meters is lost on me, to be honest. If you want income, earn it from garages or even surface lots but timed street meters and the cost of associated enforcement, etc?  Maybe someone can explain the logic?

Prior to parking garages and lots, it was common for congested cities to limit the amount of time one could use street parking. Meters were used to time the parker and money was collected to pay for maintaining the meters.  It eventually grew into a new source of revenue for municipalities.

[tufsu1]

I like this idea, it's a great start. The whole concept of parking meters is lost on me, to be honest. If you want income, earn it from garages or even surface lots but timed street meters and the cost of associated enforcement, etc?  Maybe someone can explain the logic?

well if you don't restrict street parking by time and/or money, why would people park in surface lots or garages?

[tufsu1]

I was simply responding to the poster's comments