Indianapolis, Indiana followed in the footsteps on Chicago, Illinois by deciding on Monday to sell its parking meters to a private company — a decision that has proved highly controversial in the Windy City. The vote was a close one.
The Indianapolis parking meter deal squeaked through the city council 15 to 14. Under the arrangement council members approved, the city will lease out 3700 metered spaces for fifty years for only $20 million up front. The city will get to share in the revenues which, according to city estimates, will bring in $620 million over the life of the lease. The Indianapolis contract, unlike the terms of Chicago’s relatively inflexible deal, does provide the option of opting out of the deal every ten years.
The main player in the lease is Affiliated Computer Services (ACS), a company owned by Xerox, which is the majority stakeholder in a new entity that will oversee the meter system called ParkIndy along with two smaller, local companies. ACS also is a major player in the red light camera and speed camera market.
“Our council had a huge part in enhancing this parking proposal for the benefit of the citizens of Indianapolis, and our city should be proud of that,” Mayor Greg Ballard said in a statement. “The ParkIndy team is committed to improving our parking system in a way that will spur economic development and will result in more convenient parking options for residents and visitors. ACS also will contribute to our local economy by bringing 200 additional jobs to Indianapolis over the next two years.”
Although the lease passed, many people attending the council meeting were unhappy enough to boo loudly after the votes were tallied according to a report from the Indianapolis Star.
ParkIndy will soon begin installing new electronic pay boxes to replace the standard single head meters in Indy, much like LAZ/CPM did in Chicago. Once the new meters are installed, meter rates will increase.
[Courtesy:Thenewspaper.com/The Expired Meter]
As much as I hate the price increase, I have to admit that the electronic pay boxes in Chicago are quite nice to deal with.
They also reduce the problem of people that park in a space and periodically go outside to feed the meter, thus defeating the true purpose of parking meters (providing short-term parking).
The only problem with the Chicago deal is that the city got totally screwed on the terms. It sounds like Indianapolis learned from our mistake.
In Chicago you can no longer take advantage of a meter that still has time on it. It means more money for the parking company and more convenience for people who don’t keep a handful of change in the car, though. Then again there are plenty of spots half a block away from a metered curb that are free if you know where to look.
I live in Indianapolis and don’t have a big problem with this deal. I am skeptical that 50 or 60 year deals can really go successfully to the end – so I like the opt-out every 10 years provision. Parking rates have not changed in 30+ years.
(The Indiana toll road was leased for 75? years – who knows what will be going on in 75 years and whether a lease would be a good idea for that long period?)
Here in Hono most downtown/Waikiki parking lots are run by Diamond Parking from Seattle. It runs appx $8.00 to $20.00 per day to park. My space is $153.00 per month. The parking meters are still city run, and the city sells plates and stickers for loading zone parking. The conditions are the vehicle has to be some sort of commercial type, (a station wagon qualifies),
so people buy and park in loading zones all day. They are only allowed a certain time for active unloading, like 20 minutes…but 80% are parked, and the parking patrol is very lax, making real loading/unloading a problem.
When I was on Guam, they tried the boot thing, and the people revolted so badly they did away with it.
A lot of this stuff is just cities strapped for cash being short sighted. Why get 20 million to give up 100 million or more in parking fees….because they need 20 million now.
This reminds me of the old story about a health minister in France who successfully got the government to raise the tax on cigarettes. However, he was later accused of not directing enough funds toward cancer treatment or research to help those who had suffered from tobacco use. He simply replied, “I bring in 3 Francs today, tomorrow my successor spends 9 Francs. Why should I care.”
I live in Indianapolis. The term “snowjob” is the first word that comes to mind. Maybe not the first.
I am really glad that thenewspaper.com went out of its way to point out that the new story is about the Indianapolis city in Indiana, as opposed to those in Iowa and Oklahoma. It’s a very important distinction.