How much time do you spend circling the block when you’re downtown looking for a parking spot before your next all important meeting? It gets more than annoying after a while, doesn’t it? Traffic analysis studies have shown that up to 30% of downtown metropolitan traffic is simply comprised of people looking for a place to park. Sounds kind of silly, doesn’t it?
Well, it just so happens that the L.A. Transportation Department is going to implement a solution to make your life a whole lot easier. The city of Los Angeles is working with the Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transporation Authority to install new meters in a 4.5 square mile area downtown next year. So what’s so special about this project? Well, for starters, these meters won’t just take cash. These bad boys will also take your credit card. I guess that’s one way to stop the meter from expiring.
Even more interesting than a meter that can take your plastic, they are going to install wireless pavement sensors to record parking space data. Then, based on the traffic and parking data, pricing for parking spaces can be adjusted month-to-month, based on supply and demand. City officials promise that the rates won’t go up after you’ve parked, and that the monthly adjustment will amount to no more than 50 percent up or down at any given adjustment period. Sounds like a fair way to do business, doesn’t it?
The only thing I can’t figure out is how they think this will stop vandalism of parking meters. According to the technicians who repair the current meters, vandalism is an out-of-control problem that just won’t go away. I would think that more sophisticated meters would only be more susceptible to vandalism than previous models. I guess we’ll find out next year.
The program is slated to kick off next summer. Current rates for downtown parking meters range from $1 to $4. The city collected $33 million from parking meters last year. It’s not clear if the new program will result in less or more revenue from the meters, but apparently that’s not the goal.
“What we’re striving for is pricing such that 85% of meters are occupied and 15% are open.” – Peer Ghent, Senior Management Analyst, LADOT
So there you have it. The future of parking meter pricing is based on supply and demand and payable with credit. Welcome to 21st century parking, L.A. style.
