I am sitting here in Ft Laud airport blogging my heart out and who should sit down next to me, but Steve Long, VP of AMPCO System in Seattle and President of the NPA. He pulls out his Sony handheld and checks his email then opens a copy of Don Shoup’s book, the High Cost of Free Parking.
Steve is interested in the concept and we got into a lengthy discussion on Don’s concept that parking should be market priced. Steve agreed that if people paid what parking costs, and it isn’t subsidized or rolled into other things they pay, that money would be available to properly compensate operators.
Also, he noted, that the operators in a community would be called upon to help enforce both on street and off street parking charges.
He’s only a few pages into the book, but he’s hooked.
JVH
One Response
My company makes parking meterhoods and I’ve seen a huge increase in the number of orders offering free holiday parking. The orders are often placed by local chamber of commerces’ in the hopes of increasing business in their downtowns. This off sets the cost of parking for potential customers and I think it’s a great idea.