Become a Parking Rock Star? If you raise on-street pricing so that people who don’t want
to pay the higher pricewill immediatelymove to the cheaper off- street pricing and those who do want to pay for convenience can quickly find a place to park, you have reduced congestion and much bettermanagement of the parking asset. It’s returning what the market says it should. To do this,
it means the pricing must be flexible. It should change based on demand. In certain LosAngeles neighborhoods, for example, on-street
parking is plentiful during the day. However, after dark, when tony clubs and restaurants are open, the streets are jammed with cars. In these neighborhoods, parking would be more expensive in the evenings than during the day. That’s almost the exact oppo- site frommostmunicipal parking pricing. On weekends, parking is usually free. Thatmakes sense per-
haps in areas where the shops are closed on Saturday and Sun- day, but around major shipping centers or theaters, for instance, it should be the other way around. There can be resistance to this demand type of pricing. The
merchants’ knee-jerk reaction is no. They don’t want to see increased pricing for parking. That brings us to the second of Shoup’s standards: Return the money generated to the neighborhood that
generated it. When merchants find that the parking revenues will be
plowed back into new streets, sidewalks, lighting, streetscapes and marketing programs for the neighborhood, they begin to rethink their objections. It has been determined that inmany cas- es, most of the cars taking the most convenient spaces belong to employees working in the area. If those cars are moved off-street to parking lots, they free up space for paying customers. Sometimes these monies have already been committed to
government activities (education, public safety, etc.). In those cas- es, a formula can be devised so that once the original commit- ment ismet, the increase in revenue can be used locally. But what of coded parking requirements? Studies have
shown that when planning commissions set parking require- ments, they are arbitrary and often much higher than the actu- al usage. “You don’t build your church to hold the congregation at
Christmas and Easter,” notes Shoup. “Why build your garage for the day after Thanksgiving or the day after Christmas?” If the developer is allowed to make parking decisions, they
most likelywill bemade in the best interest of the project. Which brings us to the last of Shoup’s three standards: Do away with parking requirements. Often, parking costs are included in other fees paid by the
Continued on Page 24
EDC Corporation AIMS AIMS Parking Management Software
Unified Parking Ticket and Permit Management Software
Billing, Reporting, Payment, Interfacing, Finance Management
Onsite or Remote Hosting
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Integrated Camera and Barcode Scanner
Cradle or Wireless Communication
Visit
www.edc-aim.com to book a product tour. EDC Corporation
Website:
www.edc-aim.com Toll Free: 800-886-6316 Email:
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www.parkingtoday.com
East Coast Sales: 800-886-6316 West Coast Sales: 877-277-6771 Canadian/MidWest Sales: 905-931-4085
23
AIMS Web+ E-Commerce for Parking Customers
Online Vehicle Registration Citation Payment Citation Appeal Wait List Staff Reporting
AIMS Users: Parking Professionals
University Municipality Hospital Airport Private Operator
Visit our website:
www.edc-aim.com
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