Parking: What If Meters Reset Based on Demand?

Susan R May 20, 2012 at 11:47 am

Councilmembers Eric Garcetti and Jan Perry and Ed Reyes are still coming up with new ways to shut down businesses by increasing parking fees.
People will just go and shop in other nearby cities. This is not smart.

Jane Hasbro May 20, 2012 at 03:58 pm

Just another way to stick it to ordinary people of the city to solve the city's budget woes, like raising the price of parking tickets over & over.

Stephanie May 20, 2012 at 10:10 pm

No part of Silver Lake or Echo Park would benefit from this. Are you really asking that question? Am I supposed to jump for joy to pay more to park get coffee there during rush hour? So much for pulling over to wait out the traffic from Dodger Stadium, I bet wasting gas sitting in a log jam is cheaper than $6 an hour to park. And I know there are shuttles, yada yada yada. Can't do that coming from work all the time. This is the most blatant money grab by the state government that I have seen in a long time. It makes me think LA is just another business trying to gouge it's customers at peak hours. Shame on you LA Transpo douches! Does this mean the gouged money is gonna fix the roads? So if this is a pilot program and one is issued a ticket, will it be enforced? Remember the red light cameras and after a while they decided not to collect the remaining fees because that system was proven too costly? What a bunch of garbage. Are they trying to get us out of our cars? This isn't the way to do it. $6 an hour? For shame! Hey Antonio Villadouchbag, when was the last time you had to pay to park or take the subway? Last time I checked, you were still being chauffeured around in your big gas guzzling Escalade. Maybe that has changed, but this "pilot program" should be a program to drop kick you out of office. Why don't you set up some sensors for that?

Ronald van Ammers May 21, 2012 at 12:30 am

Increasing parking fees will mean more empty parking spaces which is good for business.

Ronald van Ammers May 21, 2012 at 12:37 am

If you want more parking spaces then increase parking fees which could finance more parking lots. That revenue could also be used for better public transportation which would reduce the need for parking in the first place

Susan R May 21, 2012 at 12:50 am

Stephanie, you said it all. And, beautifully and perfectly I might add.

K. Coplen May 21, 2012 at 05:00 pm

I agree with Stephanie and Susan. I am a second generation born and raised LA gal. I have lived in Echo Park and SilverLake all my years. I have used and use all types of transportation to get around the city. From public (bus, subway) & private (cabs), to personal (my car, carpools, and by simply walking-to Sunset Blvd, and beyond, or just going down the hill to the Trader Joes. Because of an accident, I cannot ride a bicycle. ). Never ever, will I pay $6 an hour, to park on a public street!

Anthea Raymond (Editor) May 21, 2012 at 05:02 pm

Ok guys -- This meter thing pops another question that's long been on my mind: what's the WORST place to PARK in EP-Silver Lake. Sure we've talked a lot about crappy places to drive, but parking is its own mega-problem. What do you think?

K. Coplen May 21, 2012 at 05:04 pm

YAY!!! ;-)

Ronald van Ammers May 21, 2012 at 07:10 pm

In LA people say there is no parking if you cant see a space within 100 feet from where you are. But If youre prepared to walk 5-10 minutes there is no shortage of free parking in Silverlake. Especially on residential streets in the hills.

Lindsay May 21, 2012 at 07:18 pm

The whole idea behind meters is to force customers to economize. Everyone on here who is complaining will find the free parking or park in a less convenient parking lot and walk a little more. The people who value their time and are willing to pay to find a spot where they want to go will now be able to do that. And if no one is using the parking spaces, the price goes down. Ideally to free if there really is no demand for them. It's a commodity and it costs lots of money to provide it, so it should be priced.

Susan R May 21, 2012 at 11:52 pm

There is a demand. People need to shop and eat out. We need business.

Anthea Raymond (Editor) May 22, 2012 at 12:23 am

@Lindsay, others -- I think in Echo Park and Silver Lake this might be about the distance required to find free parking. I'm not sure there IS much in the Downtown LA area affected by this, but perhaps I am wrong. It's really about the price of being in that space at all--or perhaps using commercial lots.

Susan R May 22, 2012 at 02:21 am

Let's look. There is no free parking in some of the poorest neighborhoods. Look at the Pico-Union district. Councilmember Ed Reyes has NO free parking at his field office in Lincoln-Heights on Broadway. You must pay on the street or in the paid parking lot across the street. Only employees get to park for free in the parking lot. But taxpayers have to pay the parking meter.
Look at Alvarado and down by MacArthur Park. All parking meters and no free parking. And, you can not even find parking. Pasadena has parking meters everywhere. I do not go to Pasadena for just that reason. Look at Burbank and Glendale, no parking meters in a lot of places and lots of free parking. These are business friendly cities. Councilmember Ed Reyes and Eric Garcetti do not get that. People stay away with parking meters and local businesses lose. No wonder there are no jobs.

Stephanie May 22, 2012 at 09:34 pm

@ Lindsay,
I respect your opinion, however, the whole idea behind meters is NOT to "force customers to economize". (How is charging $6 an hour to park economizing?) It's to generate revenue. I am a "customer" of the business I am trying to park next to, I am not a "customer" of the state I live and already pay taxes in. What's next, cover charge at the CA boarder? Half price if you're a resident? The businesses near these meters do not get the revenue from the meters. That goes to the state. If the businesses suffer because of these meters, the city isn't going to help them.

K. Coplen May 22, 2012 at 09:42 pm

I agree.

K. Coplen May 22, 2012 at 09:44 pm

I agree with Stephanie.

Robert Linden July 7, 2012 at 03:42 am

Actually the meters in Glendale are WORSE! There, if you simply go to try to check how much time you have remaining at your parking spot, the system assumes you're someone new and "zeroes you out" making you have to pay again from scratch!