AgdaPkt 2005-06-06 - Laserfiche WebLink

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�/� _ �� must remember two things: First, downtowns are a host to a widely diverse range of businesses, each with their own peculiar fluctuations in activity (think back to the "shared parking" discussion). Second, curbside parking spaces are highly convenient and desirable and are impossible to add once maximized, so we need to use these resources as efficiently as possible. Together, these two realities mean that one parking space must fulfill several needs throughout the day. For example, our coffee house may be very busy during the early morning (meaning perhaps it needs all nine spaces at that time) but very mellow during the lunch hour (during which time it may only need one space). The sandwich shop will be closed during the morning, when it would need no parking spaces, but during lunchtime it may need every space on the block. Unfortunately, three of them would be unavailable to sandwich shop customers, because the time limits are too short. They are short for the coffee house's sake, but the coffee house doesn't need a11 three 15-minutes spaces during lunchtime—so they sit empty. In the afternoon, when both the sandwich shop and the coffee house aren't very busy, the day spa is very active and needs parking, but the empty spaces on their block can't be used by their customers because the time limits are too short. Frankly, it is exhausting to think of a11 of the different time limit needs for all of the different businesses and how you might accommodate them. Another issue with time limits is that enforcement of them is very labor intensive. First, a tire on each car must be marked with chalk. Then, that block must be revisited after the time limit has passed... two hours later, one hour later, maybe only 15 minutes later. Any caz which still has a chalk mark is issued a citation. If time limits are very short, then the officer must return very frequently. If multiple time limits are involved, then it is even more complex. This system can be effective and causing customers to leave quickly. However, employees often figure out systems for avoiding a ticket by moving their car to another space before the time limit is up, by erasing the chalk before the enforcement offcer returns, or by swapping spaces with a co-worker several times during the workday. To thwart such behavior, some cities divide their downtown into zones, and one must leave that entire zone before the end of the time limit or face a ticket. This is only slightly more effective at removing employees but us much more inconvenient for customers. No matter how strict the time limits are, if prices are free or backwards, then employees will probably still park in prime spaces. For example, until 1995, a11 curbside parking in Aspen was free. Predictably, it was congested—primarily by employees. Time limits were fairly tight (90 minutes) and yet this didn't stop employees from using the prime spaces. City staff called the ticket-avoiding technique used by employees the "90 Minute Shuffle." In 1991 a 340-space parking garage was built to relieve the problem. According to Aspen's city manager: "Despite its convenient location and $1.50 a day rate, only during special occasions did it ever fill. On most days the garage remained over half empty, while tremendous congestion and competition raged for free on-street parking a block away." Absent appropriate prices, the only way for time limits to create turnover in a busy downtown is to back them up with aggressive enforcement. If the enforcement isn't aggressive, people will figure it out quickly and flagrantly violate the time limits–�specially employees, who have the advantage of being downtown all day every day and can easily figure out patterns and rhythms to parking enforcement patrols. For the purposes of this discussion, "aggressive enforcement" shall Da�e 2�