The parking permit blues
Up until maybe ten or fifteen years ago, in the place where I live, we still had parking meters. They took coins, too, and although the price of parking kept going up, it wasn’t too high. They even took pennies, which got you about a minute, or nickels or dimes, although they also gobbled up quarters quite nicely. If you were extra-lucky and someone had just vacated a space for which they’d bought too much time, you could coast on their extra time if you were doing a quick errand.
There were even places to park, not too far from the main streets, where there were no meters, although the parking was timed. You could park for two hours there for free, if I remember correctly.
Yes, you needed to keep coins on hand. But that wasn’t too difficult because as I said, parking wasn’t mega-expensive.
Then they removed the meters and put in parking stations – is that what they’re called? or kiosks? – where you bought a ticket that you then put in the windshield. At first it wasn’t too bad, although in the snow and sleet and rain it meant a rather nasty trip to the station and sometimes standing in line while the person in front of you paid. The stations took coins or credit cards, and with the coins you could get just a few minutes if that was all you needed.
It occurred to me early on that this had the advantage to the city of parking being non-transferable. No longer could you get the benefit of a person who’d overpaid in your spot. The fee for each person was tied to that person, and so the city got the money even if the time was unused.
Then at some point the parker had to plug into the machine the numbers of a license plate, just to make the fee extra-nontransferable.
And today, when I ran an errand in town and parked, the coin slot at the station was inoperable although it was still there. I think it’s now all credit cards, all the time. This means the shortest segment of parking you can buy has become an hour, which I rarely need and which costs a fair amount.
And then there’s the reading of the messages in the machine. If light is bright and there’s a lot of reflection, faggetaboutity you’ll have to create artificial shade to read it. And please, be quick about typing stuff in, because the machine is impatient and quite quick to say you’ve run out of time and need to start again. Today, for example, there was no diagram to tell me which way to insert my credit card. I tried every way I could think of and it rejected the card and timed out. Today I think I went through the entire protocol about four times before the machine finally had mercy on me and spit the parking permit out – and there, in the slot, I also found the permits of two previous people who’d left them there. They had their license plates on them, so I couldn’t have used them even if I’d known they were there.
Or, I suppose I could get the app. But I park in town so seldom – usually just when on official business – that I tend to forget about dong that until next time. And what guarantee would there be that the app would be any easier to use? None.
Okay, I feel better now.
Which is why when I have to go downtown, I take the bus. For senior citizens, much cheaper than paying for parking and the gasoline to get there.
Parking meter? What’s a parking meter?
🙂 🙂 🙂
I was reminded of the parking meters in ths jack reacher where they up the patsy shooter with a pass ticket
Coral gables and miami beach as well as ft lauderdale is terrible for parking down south
We still see these on the beaches up here
Is the situation as bad up here
I have nowhere to go that needs a parking meter, except when I have to work in a town that has them. Having to be there all day often have found way off free parking but can be 5 blocks away. Terrible if I need a tool I didn’t unload in the morning.
I vacation in your godforsaken state and pay through the nose for a two week parking spot. The kiosk parking areas near the Town Hall are a mess, even local residents have a hard time using them. I sit on a park bench and watch summer visitors trying to figure the system out, and then see the parking enforcement people cruise by to ticket most of the cars. Horrible system, confusing and probably intentionally so, so that the Town can collect fees and assess fines.
The little mountain town close to me has kiosks and pay by credit card. Like your town, I could download an app, but I seldom go downtown, so haven’t bothered. There’s no sticker to put on the dash; it’s all monitored online, I think. Parking lots near the really nice six-mile walking trail also are pay by credit card on an app.
“Nickel and diming” the citizen’s pocketbook has long been the favored tactic of governments. Until the gov. begins to run out of “other people’s money” and it faces, as is now the case in the UK, a choice between continuing to put up illegal immigrants at government expense or continuing modest retirement pensions. Then, sterner ‘measures are required… “Tony Blair has been accused of “betraying pensioners” after his think tank urged the Government to scrap the “triple lock” on pensions. The anti-poverty safeguard ensures the state pension goes up by whichever is highest – increases in average earnings, inflation or 2.5%.”
I installed my first parking meter smartphone app several months ago. It works well, and your credit card & license info. is entered when the first initialize the app. It also has GPS location sensing, so it displays just a few parking spots from which to choose. Also, you can add time remotely, if needed.
In my recent trip to Hawaii, we were going to a time sensitive event, and should have gotten there plenty early. Except for three problems. The worst of which was the damn paid parking via Q-R code and website. Endless typing and corrections on that crappy touch screen keyboard.
Huge controversy erupting in Fernandina Beach where the small downtown is a great draw for locals and tourists due to the specialty shops and numerous restaurants. The City Council decided to put paid parking in. Residents were horrified and brought a petition for it to go to referendum, but the Council refused to allow the referendum. Citizens group now suing the council. Meanwhile the paid parking stands are in. The once thriving downtown now looks like a ghost town and the businesses are in jeopardy.
The council is 2 Republicans, and 3 ” non partisans”, ie Democrats. FB has always been a draw for older white liberals to vacation in the spring and unfortunately many have now moved in. I hope it’s not the usual story writ small of the first change coming for Florida.