POINT OF VIEW


Nano,Nano – Egalitarian – “Just a Line fromaMovie…”


BY JOHN VAN HORN N


ANO NANO … NO, I’M NOT channeling “Mork.” It’s the new $2,200 car going on sale in India. PT’s Ops Director Andy mentioned this critter the other day.His commentwas


something like, “They are going to sell millions of these in India, and they will have to find a place to park them.”


The Nano looks like a “Smart Car” but very down-market.


The car’s creator, billionaire Indian industrialist Ratan Tata, says that he asked a journalist at a trade show how much a car should cost to reach the vast undermarket in India. The response: “100,000 rupees, about $2,000.” TataMotors set a price, and then told their engineers to build


a car they could sell profitably for that price. It’s about one-third the cost of the next cheapestmodel in India. It’s basic transporta- tion, but for a person whose experience is four on a motorbike, a bicycle, or a cow, it would seemlike a Lincoln Navigator. The $2,200modelwon’t export toNorthAmerica or Europe


due to its very lack of any amenities – noAC, radio or passenger- side mirror; one windshield wiper; rubber floor covering; bus- style seat covers – and it can’tmeet the strict safety standards, but for theThirdWorld, it seems a winner. (Don’t worry, Tata says that there will be U.S. and Euro-


pean models, but you can rest assured they will cost more than two grand.) Oh, and the Nano gets 56 miles per gallon and puts out less


pollution than a typicalmotorcycle in India. As for those of us in the industry, formal parking will be


needed for this egalitarian mode of transportation for the great masses in India. Our next great parkingmarketplace? I know, I know … Mork spelled it “nanoo nanoo.” And


RobinWilliams is recovering from heart surgery very similar to the one I had 18 months ago. I understand that four hours after the surgery, he had the hospital staff in stitches.Abetterman than I am, Gunga Din.


*** Egalitarian ... I used a big word in my blog last month and


thought some explanation might be in order.Automobiles are, in fact, the most egalitarian – read that equal or level – form of transportation ever invented.They are relatively lowcost (or high cost, if you want fine Corinthian leather,). They go where you want to go when you want to go, and at the pace you want to go. Youmake the choices, not a traffic planner inWashington, DC. The numbers show that autos cost less per passengermile to


run than airplanes or long-range trains.And the people who use thempay for their use, not the rest of us through government sub- sidies to all types of rail transportation.


6 MAY 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com I agree that central cities have traffic problems, but that is


typically caused by government subsidy of on-street parking. If the government kept its nose out of the parking business, people would make economic decisions as to whether they wanted to drive or take alternative forms of transportation. Consider this: If it cost $75 a day to park your car on week-


days in downtown, many people would band together and share vehicles to get to work to share the costs of parking. If two or three people decided to ride-share to save $50 each a day in park- ing costs, there would be no traffic, no rush hours, and all would be right with the world. People will make these decisions on their own. Everyone is


treated the same, and those who can afford to drive by themselves will; and thosewho can’t or don’twish to,won’t. Seems fair tome. Mass transit is the least egalitarian form of travel. It goes


when others want it to go, goes where others want it to go, and you are forced to mix and mingle with a thousand strangers you don’t want to meet. Ever miss the last train? Now what? Long live the private automobile. Hey, if you want to ride the train, more power to you. But I


don’t see why I should pay for your trip. ***


It’s Just a Line fromaMovie…Iwas taken aback the oth-


er daywhen the head of a largemanufacturing company said that “If you build it, they will come” is just a line from a movie. But then I got to thinking about it. He’s right, to a point. In his business, building a widget and putting it in front of


the customer doesn’t work.Marketing is how a company is driv- en. First, research must be done, the needs of the marketplace ascertained, then the product properly designed, built, priced and promoted. If all the stars are in alignment, itwill be a success. It’s a lot of work. However, my continuing reference isn’t to technological


advances; it’s to point out that providing free parking won’t bring shoppers downtown, and charging for parking won’t keep them away. If you have an attraction, and it’s a good one, people will


park blocks away and walk, or they will pay a lot to park. (Remember how much they charge for parking at Dodger Stadi- um,more than the price of a seat; or across the street fromMadi- son Square Garden, more than the price of admission. The price of parking certainly doesn’t slow one down a bit.) However, if you have a tired, run-down, half-empty downtown, people won’t come if you pay themto park. Century City and The Grove here in LA both are upscale


destination shopping centers. Both charge for parking. They are very successful.Westside Pavilion just up the street is a nicemall, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the other two. It has been strug- gling and only recently began to turn it around. How? It added a Continued on Page 8


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