Point of View
Universities in the UK, NCIS, Vegas, and Having Money
By John Van Horn
I attended a seminar at BPA-sponsored Parkex in late March and found that, in the UK, “University Parking” is
fairly backward. At BirminghamUniversity in the host city, for instance, they
have 3,000 parking spaces for 40,000 students and staff, and readily admit their parking systems simply don’twork. Their biggest prob- lemis poachers that visit the local hospital and for some reason park for free on campus, rather than pay to park at the hospital. They also acknowledge that their parking controls are being
driven by a sustainability program, and not by any real desire to set up a system to control parking per se. After all, they receive grants fromthe government based on their carbon reduction pro- grams. Sound familiar? Although I’m certain they will catch up quickly, I would
guess that higher ed parking in the UK is a good 15 to 20 years behind that in the U.S. There are a couple of issues they must overcome, including the facts that they don’t want to charge for parking on campus and are loath to build any parking structures. They do have some fee-based
programs on a few campuses in the UK. In one case, the cost is predicated on the salary of the vehicle owner, with those making more, paying more. This is a system to “equate” incomes, but frankly it makes no sense to me. After all, if people make more money, they can afford a higher fee and will simply pay it. The idea of restricting parking because it costs something simply goes away. They do readily admit that parking is subsidizedwhen there
Not bad – the show’s writers got all
this in 60 seconds. FWIW: “NCIS” is the No. 3-rated drama on TV, and that
week it was the sixth-most watched show, and it was a rerun. It came in behind two “American Idol” shows, two “Bachelor” shows, and one “Criminal Minds.” (In the drama department, “NCIS”was beaten out by “House” and “Grey’sAnatomy.”)
*** I was in Las Vegas for a night a couple of weeks ago. I guess
I’mjust confused. Most people park their cars in those huge garages out back
behind the
hotels.Afriend toldme that the line of garages (2,000- 4,000 cars each) behind the hotels is called “battleship row.” They do look like hulking battleships, tied up, waiting for something to blast out of thewater. Once you park out there, it’s amilewalk fromyour car to the
“They broke the law, and for that they must pay”
showroom, casino or restaurant you seek. But there you go. If you like, you could valet your car. Drive up to the front entrance, hand your keys to the valet, and walk 50 feet into the main entrance and your destination.When you leave, you simply give the valet your claimcheck andwait a fewmin- utes. If it’s really crowded, youmight have towait 10minutes.
The Friday night I was there, the wait was about three min-
utes. You tip the valet, and you are off. Oh, by the way, the valet at virtually all hotels is free. Why would you self-park? Many tell me that they “don’t
is no fee charged (Don Shoup, call your office) and have comput- ed that subsidy as something between $6 and $12 a space per day. However, they are considering a fee of from$3 to $8 a day. And they are attempting to get people to take the train, but
the round-trip cost is considerablymore than the proposed park- ing fee. The solution, of course, is to subsidize the rapid transit
fare.And, of course, then the governmentwill tax the subsidy. At about this point, I lost interest. They had opened the Parkex sessionwith a quote that could
fit any seminar on University Parking anywhere: “A university is a diverse community held together by common complaints about parking.”
*** I think I beat our Pop Culture guru Isaiah Mouw with this
one. A recent episode of “NCIS” opened with parking enforce- ment
officers.Andy says that it points out at least a dozen – well, maybe half a dozen – issueswith parking enforcement. The issues I see are: First, I think they would be leading the
street sweeper, not following it. Second, two officers in the car? Third, old-style enforcement vs. new-style customer-based reac- tions. Fourth, debasement of PEOs (metermaid, rent a cop). Fifth, “They broke the law, and for that they must pay.” Sixth, call the “real police.” Plus, the PEO admits the “job” cost himhis soul.
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want someone else driving their car.”Well, OK. But do you know the liability rules? If you self-park and something happens to your car, you pay for the damage. If you valet, the hotel pays for the damage. Seems like a good deal tome. Plus, inVegas, you have all that extra time to lose yourmoney.
***
Variations of this tale date back more than a few years: A woman in a Mercedes was patiently waiting for a car to
clear a parking space so she could park. Just as she was ready to pull in, a fellow in a tiny car zipped in front of her and took the space. “Why did you do that?” asked the woman. “Because I can,” said the fellow. So the woman promptly put it in reverse and smashed into
the tiny car. “Why did you do that?” Cried the fellow. “Because I can afford to.” Some days it pays to have a lot
of money. See you at the 2011 IPI Confer-
ence & Expo May 22-25 in Pittsburgh – it’s going to be a good show. Looking for- ward to chatting with you.
PT Parking Today
www.parkingtoday.com
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