POINTOF VIEW


T Albany, DC, and


BY JOHN VAN HORN


Wow! Parking Authority Boss Thinks Outside the Box


HE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF theAlbany (NY) ParkingAuthority sur- prised local politicos by suggesting parking programs that certainly dif- fered from those usually expected from


parking professionals. Michael Klein cautioned that he wasn’t backing any of the ideas but putting them forth for discussion.


“Idon’t think we should follow the old model, point blank,”


Klein said, instead suggesting that a city task force on residential permit parking look into a system that uses market forces and incen- tives – rather than “rationing and command and control” – to “sort out the conflicting perspectives.” I always suspected thatmy bud-


When I asked him about his “retirement,” Larry told me


that he had been having balance issues and thought they were the first step to a cane, then walker, then a wheelchair and then a gurney out the door. He said a young friend (85) told him about some exercises. Larry started doing them and his balance came back, and he had no excuse for retiring. (I guess being over 90 doesn’t count.)


***


Food Trucks Taking Parking Spaces … Established restaurants and traditional cart vendors are get-


ting some competition from gourmet food trucks inWashington, DC, and they don’t like it. So they are using parking policy as a reason to go after them, the District’s City Paper reports. The Money Quote, from one


dy Mike was a closet Shoupista, but this really tells the tale. I particularly like the suggestion, also reported in Albany’s Times Union newspaper, thatwould provide that residents liv- ing in a residential parking permit area could sell their permits to anyone they like for whatever they like.Thismeans that if a hos- pital is next to a neighborhood, the residents could sell unused permits to hospital employees on the openmarket. Itmakes perfect sense tome. Of course, some of the local politicos didn’t see the wisdom


in Mike’s comments: “I don’t think we need to re-invent the wheel,” task force


chairman Councilman Richard Conti said afterward. “I think the old system, which is used in other cities, works.” What Mike is doing is exposing its members to alternatives.


He wants them to consider new ideas. It’s a tough row to hoe. Nobody ever got in trouble buying IBM, and nobody ever had a problem doing something someone else has done. Way to go, Mike – all those seminars at the IPI really paid


off, as did a couple ofmeetings of theTemecula Parking Group. ***


Guess Who I Ran Into in Canada? I was surprised to see Larry Donoghue at the Canadian


Parking Association convention in Whistler, BC, in early Octo- ber. Last time we ran into each other (at PIE, I think), the nona- genarian told me he was retiring. But there he was, learning all he could about pay-on-foot and on-street systems (pay-and- display). Larry told me he was keeping current with the latest technology and was paying big bucks to anyone who could give him ways to crack the new systems.


6 NOVEMBER 2010 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


Ialways suspected that my buddy Mike was a closet Shoupista, but this really tells the tale.


Dupont Circle merchants group: “The concept of allowing commer- cial activity at a parking meter is inconsistent with the public poli- cy that parking meters are for customers, not commercial activity or employees.” Seems to me like some are get-


ting hit in the pocketbook and don’t want to compete. My feeling is that


these trucks are a newway tomerchandise.They add to the street “scene.” They get people out of their staid office environment and into a healthier one. In the newspaper article, the merchants complain that the


people who eat at the trucks cause traffic jams on the sidewalks. Huh? Isn’t that what you want – people standing around and walking by your windows? Of course, the trucks need to followrules similar to the local


merchants, pay the same taxes, get the same approvals, meet the same health codes, and the city needs to determine where they can set up. Perhaps higher fees for parking would be in order. Or maybe spaces could be carved out in off-street lots for them. Time to think outside the box. As for the restaurants that are being “hurt” by the trucks, get


with the program.Why do people go to them?They are fast, they offer “different foods,” they are cheaper. Gee,maybe you need to rethink your lunch model. Personally, I would prefer to go inside and sit down and be served if I could get out of there in a hurry and have some good food at a price I could afford. There is a great fish restaurant near me here in LA.You go


in, order at the counter, pay, get a number, and your food is brought to your table in about 5-7 minutes. It’s fresh, good and quick. You have already paid, so you don’t have to wait for a check. Imuch prefer it to a so-called gourmet food truck. But it’s the only one in the area like that.


Continued on Page 8


Ventura, CA, of All Places


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