Dollars And Sense

(Wednesday) August 18, 2010

During the budget deliberations last spring, City Council voted to raise the parking meter rate to $1.75 an hour. Such a raise was recommended by the retail study update as a way to increase the amount of street parking available to retail and restaurant customers. The higher rates combined with enforcement would force employees and other “long term” parkers to utilize available garage parking leaving the street spaces for shoppers and diners. As with so many decisions in our complex society, this one was not well thought out. Obviously some Alexandrians object to the second massive raise in parking fees in two years. No one seems to have considered that the meters now require 14 quarters for a two hour stay. Who carries that much change around?

The consequences are Draconian. The fine for overstaying a parking meter is now $40. You can forgive the hapless shopper for feeling set up by the City of Alexandria. She or he doesn’t have 14 quarters, takes a chance stuffing every available coin into the meter, doesn’t make it back in time and is $40 poorer as a result. We have been here before. In the late 1980′s and early 1990′s the city experimented with meters that ran until 11pm at night combined with strict enforcement to prevent restaurant employees from taking all the meter spaces. It was catastrophic. Diners who did not realize they had to put money in meters at night felt cheated and left the city never to return for years if ever.

Not all members of Council were happy with the decision to raise meter fees. Councilman Rob Krupicka asked that new meters be purchased that would accept debit and credit cards. Council Members wanted more experience with the new meters, however, and approved them only for the blocks on lower King Street that have no meters. Apparently, no one thought of the customer and the impact this would have on retail and dining business.

Now, after a month on the new rates, the complaints are mounting fast. Krupicka asked his fellow council members to reconsider replacing all of the meters. Councilwoman Del Pepper announced that she would support the move at the Potomac West Business Association lunch this week. But changing the meters will not be easy or quick. City staff are evaluating new meters. Customers like the credit/debit card meters that are in Carlyle, but parking enforcement officers do not since they can not easily determine when time on a meter expires. Staff estimates that lower King Street will not get its new meters for at least six months.

New meters cost money and it is unclear if the City has it. Rushing into a fix for the situation will undoubtedly cause more problems. If we had taken our time implementing the original change instead of lusting after the additional revenue it produces we would be in a better position. So, we propose taking a step back. If the city has the money for new meters, then it can do without the parking fee increase and it can be rolled back. This would cost staff time but the City was awfully quick in implementing the new rate so it can’t be much. That would send a strong signal that a proper and well thought out process would be developed. Shoppers and diners and the businesses that depend upon customers who park would feel valued instead of used. Staff could take time evaluating alternatives, the City Manager and Council could make the decision and the City could then move forward with replacing meters on a block-by-block basis installing the new rates at the same time as the new meters.

If the City can not do without the extra revenue, then at a minimum, the parking fine should be reduced from $40 to $10 or $15. That would provide some relief from the “gotcha” of the current situation. Let us be clear: the worst decision would be one that appears to promise relief but fails to be implemented for months. Such a decision would further erode the City’s fragile reputation for managing change. In the interim, we recommend Old Town visitors keep a roll of quarters in their car. It will get you less than six hours of parking but is far better than fishing around in your purse or pants pocket for whatever loose change you have accumulated. Perhaps some enterprising bank will even offer rolls of quarters at a discount to lure in new customers. In this brave new world where parking economists rule, customers need all the help they can get.

Roger Digilio