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After a massive wave of public outcry regarding the ongoing 50% rate hike to parking meters throughout the urban neighborhoods of Columbus, the city is trying to make amends. 720 new smart meter heads will start to be rolled out in May 2010, which will accept credit cards in addition to coins.
A civic working group considing of community, business, and civic leaders will oversee the implementation locations of these new credit card meters, and will be tasked with monitoring the impact of the meter rate increases.
The meter rate increases, which took effect on November 30th, have been an administrative decision by the Public Service Department, so no vote was required by City Council. Tonight, City Council is expected to vote on the creation of a holding account that will allocate $1.4 million in parking meter revenue for reserve bonds to help finance the new Convention Center Hotel.
Where would you like to see these new credit-card meters initially implemented?
@joev, but it is looking like beyond the first batch of 750 meter heads, it is going to be a long time before we see any more. If any increase is going to be implemented it needs to have a conditions of research and the new meter heads before.
We just heard last night that new meter heads are budgeted for replacement every 10 years, yet the meter heads we have now are 13 years old. Still we are being told a fund has to be created to allocate money created from the increase to buy new meters that there should be money already allocated for.
@Tigertree – I totally agree – the timing is bad. Any increases should be postponed until credit-capable meters are available. I’m not saying I’m in favor of the current plan at all. I think it’s been implemented poorly. But I’m not in favor of taking rate increases off the table where there is sufficient demand.
So the increase in meter fees will be used to purchase credit card meters. that are need because of the increased meter fees.
Brilliant!
I wonder how well the CC portion will work when the screen and buttons are covered in ice.
Just what I need, another opportunity for my credit card data to get hacked.
Liz, i heard you on NPR this morning … nice speach!
How is this “making amends”? The prices are still high, now people will just have the opportunity to jack up their credit card debt even more.
If they wanted to do something really innovative they could make some sort of easypass system like on toll roads. Have it detect when a car is sitting in a spot and charge it a per minute rate to the person’s checking account or however they do the payment for those.
Or maybe just give people who visit regularly an option to buy a monthly pass at a reduced rate than what they would have paid throughout the month. The problem with that though is the prices would still be high for occasional visitors, who would still stay away.
hope these credit card meters don’t use wireless cause if they do hacking them will be mind numbingly simple
Yep, they’ll be wireless. It is wireless that makes the meters possible in the first place.
Sorry to post this on the message-board and here but I thought that the info is relevant to both discussions. John Angelo makes a good point about the City playing Russian roulette with our businesses.
Greetings Short North and Downtown Columbus Businesses:
Via this email I would like to give you an update regarding the imminent parking meter rate increases, a recap of the city’s approach to enacting the rate changes, and contact information to share your observations regarding impact on your business as the new rates take effect.
Last night (Monday, December 7), a number of Short North and Downtown representatives attended the City Council session at City Hall, to speak out publicly about the city’s decision to unilaterally raise parking meter rates 50% throughout Columbus. Attendees from the Short North included among others, Scott Kuenzli (Rivet), Dan Koch (Columbus Eyeworks), Elizabeth Lessner, Harold LaRue and Tim Lessner (Betty’s Family of Restuarants), Chris Boring, and myself.
Since no opportunities were ever provided by the administration to gather input from the community prior to the announcement of the 50% increase, we felt compelled to find at least one public forum to go on record with our concerns. Most of us were there nearly four and a half hours waiting for the opportunity to speak.
Though we were not able to halt or even delay the meter rate increase process, the experience was very eye-opening. While we had a sympathetic ear from City Council, the administration (particularly the Director of Public Service, Mark Kelsey) showed little to no concern regarding due process, partnerships or collaborations.
The Dispatch posted a recap article this morning.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, in 2007 city council voted to cede all control over parking meter rates to one man, the Director of Public Service (currently Mark Kelsey). Two years later, he decided to use his power to single-handedly, and arbitrarily impose the 50% increase on parking rates all visitors will now pay to visit any part of the urban core.
Once the new rates take effect and the meters have been reprogrammed, it will cost patrons 15 quarters for parking just to exercise for two hours at the Long Street YMCA… on a Saturday. It will cost 9 quarters for parking to have a one-hour lunch at Tip Top on Gay Street (18 quarters if you want to stay for two hours).
In a meeting held Nov. 16, Dir. Kelsey’s representatives shared, for the first time with a handful of invited stakeholders (myself, Liz, Harold, Walker Evans, Cleve Ricksecker included), the rationale for the astonishing rate increases. His team stated that there had been no “citywide” rate increases in more than 13 years (they neglected to acknowledge the sharp increase in downtown meter rates executed in 2005, continually emphasizing the word “citywide”). Therefore they felt a 3% per year compounded annual adjustment rate would be a good starting point. This was purely an arbitrary decision. No studies were conducted to see whether such an inflation rate even applied to a concept such as metered parking, nor to estimate what the impact would be on visitation rates, lengths of stays or even new business development.
Director Kelsey’s plan is to make the changes and see what kind of fall out happens. If visitors keep patronizing business at the same rates as previously, then it will be deemed a good plan (no mention was made as to how the administration would gauge the impact on squelching business growth). If, on the other hand, businesses begin to close and survivors can prove that the reason for the closings was because of the rate increases, he “may” consider dropping the rates back.
Other than this, no analysis has been offered to substantiate the decision to make the changes unilaterally or at such an astonishingly high rate. In fact, in an email communication, the mayor’s staff wrote: “To truly compare meter rates, one needs to have a complete knowledge of each cities’ meter program, which simply was not possible given staffing resources.”
In other words, “we decided to wing it and see what happens.”
Per the Dispatch’s review of Monday evening’s meeting, Council member Charleta Tavares was quoted as saying: “I don’t understand the logic. We would raise the rates by 50 percent and then go back to study? It doesn’t make sense to study it after the fact.”
It is unconscionable that one person would have such power over the business landscape, and can, on a whim, affect the very livelihood of hundreds of business owners who have committed their time and resources – not to mention belief – to revitalize the urban core.
Yesterday, I made five phone calls to five cities to compare meter rates. It took all of an hour. Unscientific? Yes. Enlightening? Yes.
For comparison sake, I focused strictly on 2-hour meters serving core downtown areas. These are the types of meters visitors coming to shop or dine would use. Here’s what I found:
Toledo – all 2-hour meters are $1 per hour
Lexington, KY – all 2-hour meters are $1 per hour
Cincinnati – all 2 hours meters in core downtown are $1 per hour (elsewhere, less)
Cleveland – all 2-hour meters are 75¢ per hour
Dayton – all 2-hour meters are 60¢ per hour
In Columbus?
Core downtown rates will now range from $1.50 – $2.25 per hour at a 2-hour meter.
That makes Columbus at least 50% – 125% more expensive than any of these neighboring cities relative to customers just getting to a business’ front door.
[In the Short North, our rates will range from 75¢ - $1.50 for an hour once the rates are programmed.]
The increase may make Columbus the most expensive downtown in which to park in the state of Ohio. This decision was casually made by Director Kelsey and his team with no regard for impact on businesses… nor opportunity for your input. In the same email correspondence explaining why thorough analysis was not conducted, the mayor’s office indicates that Experience Columbus was one of the key stakeholders solicited for feedback prior to the decision to raise rates. The implication was that Experience Columbus endorsed the concept. As yet, I have not been able to find a person at Experience Columbus who recalls such a conversation. And why would they endorse it? How could the organization responsible for selling Columbus as a destination wholeheartedly endorse a move that would make Columbus the least parking friendly city in all of Ohio? It makes no sense.
The administration claims that there was significant notification of its plans. Yet, out of over 800 businesses represented by the Short North Business Association and the Central Ohio Restaurant Association, not one was aware of the magnitude of the increase until it was reported as fait accompli in the Dispatch in October. On November 30, the rate was initiated… just two weeks after the first, and only, meeting the city offered for any grassroots stakeholders.
Finally, the administration has proposed several steps to alter the parking meter system. They include:
The 50% unilateral increase
Remove parking restrictions in selected rush hour zones
Extend meter hours in selected areas
Add an additional 2,000 meters to the existing 4,300 locations
Each of these steps adds new revenue to the city’s parking fund. In all, the revenue is expected to increase by at least $2.5 million per year. These are permanent changes. There has been no rationale given (other than inflation) as to why such a hefty increase is required. The city is using the new revenue to collect $1.4 million for the Convention Hotel fund (which, as I understand, does not need to be in place until 2012). They also want to generate, in advance of purchase, $3.6 million for 6,000+ new, smart meters. The revenue increases they are proposing will pay for all of this in less than three years. Then what? Where does the new $2.5 million in annual revenues go? Why is it justified? Why do downtown patrons have to bear the cost of this permanent increase? Why couldn’t the Convention Hotel fund and the meter head purchases be amortized over 6 years? Why 2.5 – 3 years?
No answers were provided for these questions. Just a feeling that the city has decided that parking meters are no longer intended to merely turn customers. They are now an aggressive funding tool to be used to generate millions of dollars that can be fed into the city’s general fund.
This is not a question of whether businesses would like to see the Convention Hotel constructed. The overwhelming response is yes. And businesses are willing to help. The question is: Was a 50% parking increase necessary? We don’t know. We weren’t invited to discuss alternatives such as a 20% unilateral increase, selected meter increases, extending meter hours, phased meter installations or multi-year amortization plans.
This does not sound like a customer-centric model… nor a model that is business-centric. Of course that was already obvious. What business partner would implement a 50% increase in parking fees the first week of the holiday season during the worst recession of a generation? We will see over the coming months what the impact is. Unfortunately, your businesses are casually being placed as bets in a game of Russian roulette.
If you would like to speak your mind about the entire process, rate increases, and plans for the newly generated revenues, please direct your comments to the individuals listed below. They all need to hear your feedback and to know immediately if you feel the parking meter rates are negatively impacting your business.
Note: the meters in the Short North will be reprogrammed over the coming weeks… yes during the holiday shopping season.
Mayor Michael B. Coleman
mac@columbus.gov or krhardin@columbus.gov
Mark Kelsey, Director Public Service
MKelsey@columbus.gov
Mike Brown, Office of Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Urban Ventures Coordinator
MSBrown@columbus.gov
Randy Bowman, Administrator Division of Mobility Options,
rjbowman@columbus.gov
City Council’s administrative aides and key staff:
mkrutkus@columbus.gov,
jcragland@columbus.gov,
npsully@columbus.gov,
cgwilliams@columbus.gov,
kaowens@columbus.gov,
kcpaul@columbus.gov,
mkmcsweeney@columbus.gov,
lecady@columbus.gov,
pncass@columbus.gov,
tsdiamond@columbus.gov,
KAHykes@columbus.gov
Please cc: the SNBA on your communications so we have a library of what has been sent.
Thank you.
John
@lizless “Yep, they’ll be wireless. It is wireless that makes the meters possible in the first place.”
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heh, sheesh, hope the city is prepared for this LOL…….don’t any of these people ever come out in the real world?
these things have already been hacked, see blackhat 2009 or just google for it
here’s how the smart card meters are broken:
http://hacknmod.com/hack/hack-parking-meters-for-ulimited-free-hours/
http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3826136
They use standard computer wireless protocols and access points or even cellular wireless and they might as well get ready to lose that whole $3.6 million for the new meters cause they will be hacked and quickly. They can’t use infrared wireless, not enough range. They can get away with proprietary for a short time but it won’t last. Credit card info and radio waves, bad idea, really bad idea. You can get away with it with cell phones for awhile, stationary targets like parking meters LOL, not a chance. Somebody will get smart and point an antenna at one from a house or apartment and start collecting data until they have enough to crack whatever scheme is being used. Standard wireless protocols(all of them) all have been cracked already. Even shared passkey got broken this last summer, the software to do it is free and open source. Pagers and cell phones have been hackable and easily scanned for years. That’s how all the 9/11 messages that wikileaks realeased recently were done, pagers use one channel and all messages are sent on it. Cell phones are a bit more complicated but that can be done too.
not one digital rights management or wireless protocol hasn’t been hacked, not one, EVER……..throwing credit info out there for people to snag out of the air is like an invitation for abuse
I wouldn’t wish a hacker on anyone, not even Director Kelsey!
while i am pleased that some credit card meters will be rolled out soon, this whole plan dismays me. is it really necessary to fleece the downtown served population. wouldn’t adding more meters in some new locations be enough (i know there are areas with no meters now that could accept them)? wouldn’t some selective management of rates be enough (just raise the rates on the 0.25/hr 12 hour meters on East Gay street to a level comparable to the surface lots around them, and i’m sure there are other such examples around the city)? this is just plain greed and empire building by a guy who clearly has an agenda that is contrary to everything the majority of us are supporting. i pray that very few businesses will be severely disadvantaged by this.
With regard to the inane and one-sided decision to raise downtown parking meter rates:
This whole thing has been badly handled from the beginning by City Hall and Public Service. Now, they are making it worse by either stonewalling (read Public Service spokesman Rick Tilton’s comment in The Other Paper) or completely fabricating claims. Even this “advisory committee” smacks of clsoing the barn door after the horse got out.
But the bottom line is that in raising the parking rates so drastically, the Mayor and Public Service Director have completely gone against even City Hall’s own past statements about the need to revitalize and redevelop downtown Columbus. Who is going to want to pay that kind of money to go to a restaurant, entertainment venue or otherwise do business downtown?
It would be one thing if Columbus had a well-developed streetcar and light-rail system in and out of downtown, in addition to COTA’s buses…. but there are few viable options already and making parking more costly only makes a downtown revival less viable.
Frankly, I think COTA would be smart to do some guerilla marketing by returning the downtown shuttle circulator and buildng an ad campaign around “beat the meter….ride the bus!”