is anyone else being ripped off by these meters? Every time I go to put money into one it shorts me one or more quarters. I use these meters a few times a week and they usually take a quarter from me without registering time almost every time I put in more than one quarter. They are either defective meters or this is some city scam. It just happened again, 2nd time this week, different meter. I'm sick of it.
Just wondering if anyone else is having the same problems.
The parking meters should be removed. There is no reason for them.
There are more parking spaces downtown than people, and therefore they are not serving their original purpose.
It's a double tax as far as I'm concerned. If I pay for 30 mintues twice that's an hour and nothing less as far as I'm concerned. I guess I have the option of not living in Jacksonville because of that!
Not that this is unique to JTA, but parking problems is a direct result of bad transit and traffic management. The latest idea from the UK has JTA's attention and is going to go into study. Congestion pricing of CBD parking cuts automobile use in the City core and fills transit with riders. In a simple form it will raise all parking garages and public lots by a considerable sum of money per day, week or month. The excess moneys go to provision of transit shuttles, or in our case, could be used for downtown Light Rail, Skyway expansion, water taxis and more buses or electric buses. This would also effect those using large parking lots around the core, where a better deal would be offered on parking and perhaps include a bus pass.
Day to day shoppers would find it a bit harder to get a spot and if they park off street, they would pay more. Yet it also offers an opportunity to do away with meters all together and we could go to longer dwell times for shoppers, such as a 3 or even 4 hour limit, curbside free between 8 am and 5 pm. The hours of 5 pm to 8 am could be free and wide open. It's a very interesting idea, it could give us a free Skyway to match free downtown shuttle buses. A Heritage Trolley could be the extra boost that the downtown needs to bring in the outsiders.
When this congestion plan went into effect in London, EVERYONE hated it, it drew horrible reviews and politic got ugly... Just a couple of months into it, and now you would be hard pressed to find a single person, political or otherwise that doesn't love it. Certainly grounds for study here.
Ocklawaha
^ But congestion pricing is a traffic management tool designed to curb demand only once you've already accepted the fact that you can't add more supply (wider roads)
Jacksonville is a city that still firmly believes that it's the government's solemn duty to build roads. You can't run before you learn to walk. And you can't try to artificially limit demand while simultaneously expanding supply.
That being said, London's congestion pricing is absolutely fantastic, It was championed by an ardent socialist mayor, even though the primary beneficiaries are the rich who get to drive around on less congested streets.
Downtown is one of the few areas of town where there are no traffic problems (I-95 excluded). Congestion pricing would really kill off downtown.
I never really understood the meters still being here.. Back when Downtown was a shoppers paradise, I understood it, but now, there's honestly no reason for them.. Same goes for shutting down entire lanes worth of meters for "rush hour" commuters... Please, this backwater city doesnt have a downtown Rush Hour.. Its more like a Rush 15 minutes.