St. Louis needs a parking meter upgrade
The collection of change from city parking meters is a full-time job, I must see this happening here on Locust Ave at least once per week. One person walks to each meter while a van follows. Recently increased parking rates requires $2 for two hours of time. That is a lot of change.
The better way is a couple of meters per block that accept bills and credit cards.
The city did a brief test on these meters on South Grand in 2006. The Treasurer’s office that controls parking revenue in St. Louis quickly ruled these a failure. I personally love them.
– Steve Patterson
Chicago successfully converted from 33,000 coin-only single space meters to 4,200 CALE pay stations last year. The new pay stations are solar and accept credit cards.
Those style meters are is in cities all across the U.S. Sure at first there is a bit of confusion, but in the long run they are better as they take credit cards.
I work in Bentwood and hardly go to Clayton for lunch… primary because of the meters. Not that I don't want to pay… it is just I don't have change. If they had credit card type stations, I would be there all the time. I am guessing same goes for downtown.
One other alternative is/are “parking keys”, a stored-value device, that Denver is currently phasing out. You prepay $5, $20, whatever, then insert the key in a meter and 25 cents is deducted each time that it's inserted. It reduces the need for change, but you need to be a fairly frequent user of meters to justify the hassle and the investment. The added challenge here are our multiple jurisdictions – typically they only work in one city.
The worst meters are the quarters ONLY meters… Why don't they take nickels and dimes anymore?
Surprised that the Pay-N-Display were considered a failure… People use credit/debit all the time these days.
Two “words” – politics & ROI. As you noted, the Treasurer's office controls the meters; they also hire the people who collect and count the coins. Make that part of the system more efficient, and the number of jobs will/should be reduced. Then ROI (return on investment) – the new system ain't free, the existing meters are already in place and presumably paid for. How long, at whatever rates, will it take to make the conversion? 6 months? 5 years? And what is the remaining useful life of the existing infrastructure?
I get it. The new system is more convenient. It also tends to be more expensive, since credit cards come with transaction fees. You still need to have enforcement, and that may be more difficult than having individual meters. So, taking a step back/looking at the bigger picture, I have two alternate ideas.
One, consider privatizing the system, contracting out both the equipment and the employees. Politically, it may be a non-starter, but it may net more revenues to the city.
Two, consider trading higher fines for fewer metered spaces. The primary goal of metered parking is to increase the turnover of parking spaces. The same goal can be achieved by having time limits (one hour, two hour, 30 minutes, etc., AND enforcing them). In many parts of the city, I've seen block after block of unused meters, that may have been needed 10 or 20 years ago, but serve little real purpose now.
The City could also eliminate streets lined with meters that no one ever uses, like this block in Grand Center, blocks from any destination:
http://tinyurl.com/yj24vaq
I can't believe the treasurer's office deemed them a failure. Put them on Washington Ave, and I can guarantee they will work.
Yeah, it's bugged me for years that people complain about Metro not taking credit cards/debit cards (fair complaint! And now the ticket machines mostly do) but no one was talking about this. I lived in Portland 2002-2005 and they had electronic meters all over town – MUCH more convenient…if you could find a space to use one!
Portland uses those Pay & Display machines. I love them because you can use a card… I never seem to have change for parking meters. Also they're great because you can move your car and if you still have time on the sticker it's still good at any other spot that uses the same machines.
I now get a $10 roll of quarters every 6-8 weeks so I will have sufficient change. I'd like to be able to use my business debit card for those times I go to business meeting, the accounting would be so much easier.
I think you could eleminate 40% of meters in the city and thus save on paying salaries of some of those workers…some streets have meters (like stated above) where maybe only 4 or 5 cars park in a week, what a waste, but someone has to go empty or at least check them. If you want to bring more business to certain areas take down the meters, K.C. did this in most of the art district and it worked.
Heavens to Murgatroid! A whole $5 per month!
You missed my point entirely! I don't object to paying, I dislike the inconvenience of having to ensure I always have change in my car. I seldom use cash so I don't have change. I'd probably spend more per month with the convenience of swiping my debit card to pay for parking.
Those meters would be quickly vandalized and destroyed! Stick with the present meters or someone would attach skimming devices to it to steal credit/debit card info.
Cites worldwide have used these meters for years, we'd do just fine.
They're all over Chicago now and I love them. No more quarters needed; and more people fit in the same space by far.
What I mean to say is … I'm sure they'll never work in St. Louis. ; )
I think everyone is missing the point of NOT switching to the convenient, friendly, credit-card capable meters:
Lost Revenue
The more difficult it is to pay for parking, the more parking tickets will result. I think the main revenue is in parking enforcement, NOT the meters. My guess is that the Treasurer's Office knows this, which is why they were quick to declare the new systems a failure — they failed to turn a profit for the city.
Parking meters aren't about convenience, they are about money.
And why we need to eliminate the County offices through Charter Reform.
How about no meters at all. In Singapore you buy books of parking permits from 7-11 and punch the time and date on them when you park. The guy reading the meters comes by and makes sure the sheet on your dashboard reflects the actual time and date your car is there. A waste of paper, but cheap for the city and subject to sales tax.
Alternately, there's the smart card approach that subtracts the fee automatically, but you need readers for that.
just got home from chicago about 20 minutes ago….i loved the electronic/debit card machines.
Those meters work great in New Orleans.
Eliminate the County offices, please.
Be careful of what you ask for: “Reviews of the boxes are mixed, Some are happy to be able to pay with a credit card. The machines also accept quarters and dollar coins. They don't accept dollar bills, dimes or nickels or give change. In cold weather, the credit card readers sometimes froze, so the company put plastic covers over them, residents said.”
“Residents said it isn't pleasant in any season, let alone a Chicago winter, to drag children from the car to a pay machine and back again. Angela Aufegger, owner of Salamander of Chicago, a Lincoln Square shoe store, said some motorists have gotten $50 parking tickets before they could get to the pay machine and back. “I've watched it,” she said.”
“In Chicago, the city council set the annual parking rates, which vary by neighborhood. In the Loop, the main business district and most expensive parking area, the cost of an hour's on-street parking has increased from $3 to $4.25 since 2008. By 2013, the rate will jump to $6.50 an hour.”
Yeah, at those rates, credit and debit cards start to make a lot more sense. But when are rates are $1 an hour, I really don't have a problem with using coins . . .
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10073/1042702-53…
Well , the view of the passage is totally correct ,your details is really reasonable and you guy give us valuable informative post, I totally agree the standpoint of upstairs. I often surfing on this forum when I m free and I find there are so much good information we can learn in this forum! http://spoon8.net/
We'r ed hardy outlet one of the most profession
of the coolest and latest ed hardy apparel, such as
ed hardy tee ,ed hardy bags,
ed hardy bathing suits, ed hardy shoes,
ed hardy board shorts ， don ed hardyt,ed hardy tank tops, ed hardy for women,
ed hardy swimwearand more,
ed hardy clothing. We offers a wide selection of fashion
cheap ed hardyproducts. Welcome to our shop or just enjoy browsing through our stunning collection available wholesale ed hardy in our shop.
our goal is to delight you with our distinctive collection of mindful ed hardy products while providing value and excellent service. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction and we offer only 100% satisfacted service and ed hardy products. Please feel free to contact us at any time; we are committed to your 100% customer satisfaction. If you're looking for the best service and best selection, stay right where you are and continue shopping at here is your best online choice for the reasonable prices. So why not buy your ed hardy now, I am sure they we won’t let you down.
We'r ed hardy outlet one of the most profession
of the coolest and latest ed hardy apparel, such as
ed hardy tee ,ed hardy bags,
ed hardy bathing suits, ed hardy shoes,
ed hardy board shorts ， don ed hardyt,ed hardy tank tops, ed hardy for women,
ed hardy swimwearand more,
ed hardy clothing. We offers a wide selection of fashion
cheap ed hardyproducts. Welcome to our shop or just enjoy browsing through our stunning collection available wholesale ed hardy in our shop.
our goal is to delight you with our distinctive collection of mindful ed hardy products while providing value and excellent service. Our goal is 100% customer satisfaction and we offer only 100% satisfacted service and ed hardy products. Please feel free to contact us at any time; we are committed to your 100% customer satisfaction. If you're looking for the best service and best selection, stay right where you are and continue shopping at here is your best online choice for the reasonable prices. So why not buy your ed hardy now, I am sure they we won’t let you down.
St. Louis is so late with everythng. Old computers in St. Louis Public Schools, Old computers if any in many city offices, putting up old parking meters along 39th Street an industrial area where no one will hardly ever park. What is up with this?