HowMuch do You Charge for On-Street Parking? from Page 32
Comparing the cost of parking for a month at a meter with
the monthly rate for off-street parking is not relevant because nobody pays for parking meters by the month. Since curb park- ing ismore convenient than off-street parking, themeter ratewill probably have to be higher than the price per hour for off-street parking in order to create a few curb vacancies and eliminate the incentive to cruise. The San FranciscoMunicipalTransportationAgency (SFM-
TA) seems to be doing the most advanced work on adjusting meter rates to achieve transportation, environmental and econom- ic goals. For example, look at pages 8 and 9 in the document at
http://www.its.ucla.edu/shoup/SFpark8-6-08.pdf. One great advantage of the SFMTA’s approach to setting
meter rates is that the city has adopted a pricing principle – charge the lowest price necessary to ensure availability of curb parking spaces – to justify the rates. Most other cities follow no principle in setting meter rates, and no one can explain the process. A recent analysis of meter rates in LosAngeles, for exam-
ple, found that 81%of the city’smeters had not had a rate adjust- ment since 1990. The city’s response this year was to double all meter rates throughout the city. This abrupt increase has led to a political backlash, and the City Council cannot explain or justify the new rates. The Los Angeles Department of Transportation staff had recommended settingmeter rates to guarantee availability of curb
parking, but the City Council rejected this advice and simply doubled themeter rates to generatemore
revenue.The LADOT’s recommendation for settingmeter rates in response to demand is on page 2 of the document at:
http://www.its.ucla.edu/shoup/LADOT_ParkingMe-
terTechnologyProgram.pdf. Here is the link to an op-ed commentary in The NewYork
Times that explains the advantages of performance parking, and the disadvantages of underpriced curb parking:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/opinion/29shoup.
html?ex=1332820800&en=cdabf3ece6c4a862&ei=5088& partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Finally, here is the link to a recent article thatmakes the case
for performance parking prices:
http://parkingtoday.com/topstory.php. If your are on Facebook, there is a group focused on parking
policies at this link:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=70015940360.
Themembers often post news about cities that have adopted per- formance parking prices. Don Shoup
Note: Go online to
www.parkingtoday.com and click on the cover image of this issue. You will find this article in the online version of PT; all the links are hot.
PT
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PARKING SYSTEMS WHEN THE POWER GOES OUT?
When the power goes out, Alpha keeps your parking systems running. Alpha Technologies offers a variety of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and Battery Backup systems to keep your parking control and revenue systems active.
Learn more about Alpha Technologies during the International Parking Conference - Denver, CO May 17-20. Visit us at booth # 1034.
See us at the IPI booth #1034 34 MAY 2009 • PARKING TODAY •
www.parkingtoday.com
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