PT BLOG from Page 47


Two Opposite Parking Experiences (Posted Nov. 29) I did go to the mall over the past few


days, not to shop but to see movies. I experienced two parking systems – at the ArcLight Cinerama Dome in Hollywood (parked in the LA city-owned garage nearby); and at Century City, a major shopping center owned by Westfield adjacent to Beverly Hills. I had two dif- ferent experiences. In the city garage, I was first accosted


by a strange validatingmachine in the the- ater. It was “split” apart and the “innards” were sort of spilling out. We formed a committee and decided that it, in fact, worked and were able to get our tick- ets validated by trial and error. At the two pay-on-foot machines, it was again a diffi- culty. Handmade signs on the machines gave instructions. One of themachines was out of order.


The other seemed to require you either be 14 years old or have an advanced degree to operate. Nowhere did it say that you could pay on exit with a credit card. I sort- ed that out, and we jumped out of the line and went to the exit, where I found a fully staffed exit booth that took care of the transaction. Although I might have liked the


equipment to have been a tad more intu- itive,my real problemis with themanage- ment of the parking operation. It’s fairly obvious that they hadn’t called for serv- ice in quite some time and were just limp- ing by. The problemwith the validator almost


ensured that it took four times as long as it should have to get folks out of the theater and then having only two POF machines (only one of which worked) for a, what, 800-car garage was absurd. But then, the garage is owned by the city, after all. If I were the theater, I would be raising hell with them. A failure for the city and ArcLight. Ah, but at theWestfield Century City,


it was a dream. There were a dozen easily discovered validators in the theater, all of whichworked perfectly.Arrows on the tick- ets and legends on the machines showed how to use them. When we got to the POF (there were


machines at every entrance to the garage), it was easy.What do you think you should do first at a P and D? Easy: Put in a tick- et.The same legend thatwas on the valida-


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tor was on the POF. I inserted the ticket, and the display, at eye level, clearly said: “Pay $4” – it showedmy total bill ($8), the validation ($4) and then the total due. It said,“Insert money or credit card.”


There was a flashing light where I was to put either a bill or my credit card. I insert- ed my AmEx and the screen said, “Pro- cessing credit card.” It then returned the card and the ticket, and Iwas off.Note that I had to read no instructions or press any buttons. Oh, I guess if I wanted a receipt, I could have pressed a button. But I think that was my only choice. Wow! Congratulations to the wizards


at Zeag, Switzerland. By the way, Westfield spent a lot of


coin to install a parking guidance system in this garage. Even though the place was packed, it was easy and quick to find a space. Arrows pointed to lanes where spaces existed, and red and green lights told you where the empty spaces were.You could see them halfway across the garage, and I drove directly to them. Congrats to those Aussies at West-


field. That money was well spent, and I’m sure attracts a goodly crowd who are afraid to park in other malls where such systems do not exist.


TandemParking Spaces Cause Pain (Posted Nov. 23) A Boston-area advice-column blog-


ger got an e-mail from a person who shares tandem parking with a neighbor. The woman is constantly getting blocked in, and the neighbor isn’t home to move his car, she said.What to do?What to do? She has tried to talk to the person and


ask to exchange keys, but to no avail. He says he will stop, but he doesn’t. Damn, these neighbors can be a real problem. My advice? First, I would exchange


cell phone numbers, and then call him when you are blocked in. No matter where he is, he would begin to realize that he has inconvenienced you and would begin to see what the problem is. Second, don’t hesitate to block him


in.What’s sauce for the goose… Third, involve a third party, perhaps


a friend of his who lives nearby, someone he trusts, to move his car. Fourth, maybe you could hire a


bonded valet company that would hold your keys and move the cars when they are blocked. Fifth, if he keeps it up, park in the space nearest the street and block his


JANUARY 2011 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


space when it’s empty. Explain to him that you really need to get your car out and would be happy to move your car when he comes home so he can park in the “inner” space. He’ll get the idea. I had this problem the other night


when I was helping park cars for a local event. Half the spaces were tandem, and everyone refused to park “next to the wall” and be blocked in. It was a real issue; it meant about a quarter of the available spaces couldn’t be used. I did- n’t have a real solution that night, but in the future, we can provide “valet assist” and then people that are “blocking” can leave their keys.


Denver Replaces P and DWith Single-Space Meters (Posted Nov. 22) I had a number of discussions last


week at the annualCalifornia Public Park- ing Association conference about the “best” type of parking device for collect- ing on-street revenue. Of course, the answer depended on the booth I was at. P andDfolks said P andDwas best and had a list of reasons, as did P by S, Single- Space meters, Pay by Cell, and the like. I have my opinion and many of you


know it, so I won’t belabor the point. However a report by a Denver TV sta- tion caught my eye. Seems the city of Denver is removing P and D machines they installed less than five years ago and spending half a million dollars installing single-space meters with credit card capability. Money quote: “(Motorist) Heather


Neuroth said it’smuch easier to deal with meters. ‘You don’t have to trek up the block, pay for your parking space, then walk back to your car and put the receipt on your dashboard, so it works for me.’ That’s true, but then you don’t get


the advantage of removing all those pipes and the like from the sidewalk and having a beautiful, clean streetscape. And your meter collection chaps and chapettes have to go meter to meter, whereas with the P and D, you go to one meter per block to collect the money. But you don’t get a receipt out of the


meters, but theymay be easier to enforce, or theymay not.The arguments go on and on. My guess is that cities make these


types of decisions for numerous reasons. I expect that Neuroth’s comment above is a tad down on the list. Yes, Bobra, it’s coming full circle,


just like you said it would.


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