Do You Have to Let It Linger?
At five months old, Tacoma’s paid downtown parking program is gathering critics. Now, the Tacoma News Tribune has joined in on the commentary, declaring giving voice to business owners who say that the enforcement of the new parking fees is simply too aggressive.
Kathleen Cooper of the TNT writes:
The data show that in January, parking officers wrote 2,524 tickets for paid-parking violations, up from 134 in December. At the same time, they wrote 209 tickets for expired car tabs, 54 more than the month before; and 158 tickets for improper placement of front wheels to the curb, more than double the previous month’s total. That’s a $35 infraction.
Any paid parking systems that made people smile and dance were destroyed during the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, so the sense of ire and dissatisfaction with Tacoma’s is not entirely surprising. The notion of paid parking ought to assist in a business-friendly parking rotation, but some downtown business owners are beginning to disagree.
International events this month may lead us to ask the question: Is this paid parking program a shackle of tyranny we must throw off like an aged dictator? Can $0.75 and attentiveness to time be expected of the average citizen? What say you? Are we feeding our liberty, coin by coin, into the mouth of a hungry plastic beast?
Previously on Exit133: Interview with a Parking Pay Station
Filed under: General
41 comments
T tom waits February 17, 2011
Is the article really saying that enforcement is too aggressive, or is it actually saying that business owners are complaining that it is too aggressive?
J Justin February 17, 2011
Roads and parking lots don’t come free!
Go to Seattle, go to Olympia, go to Bellingham… ALL PIAD PARKING, coin by coin!
For once I can go downtown and find parking where as before I could not.
D Daniel February 17, 2011
Thanks Tom. Correction made.
R RR Anderson February 17, 2011
in the words of our greatest war criminal president: “Bring it on”
J jamie from thriceallamerican February 17, 2011
Gah!! Earworm!
“You know I’m such a fooool fer yooooou….”
T TacomaCitizen February 17, 2011
Paid parking is good for business, it frees up parking spaces for retail shoppers and helps prevent chain parkers who from taking up spaces all day while working downtown.
I’m glad to see exit 133 has been reduced to reprinting reactionary anti-urban articles by the TNT. Really the reason you grew readership in the first place right?…
R RR Anderson February 17, 2011
he’s being sarcastic! yiesh!
R RR Anderson February 17, 2011
Now I will sing a folk song…
Downtown Tacoma is a is a community garden of Eden,
a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not,
you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.
L low bar February 18, 2011
i think the subtext here is ‘why are we paying parking for a downtown that is basically not really worth the money’. i mean if every one was thoroughly smitten by the attractions where said parking is there would be no complaining. in other cities it’s not the amount that needs to get paid, its actually finding a spot thats the problem. so why not just come out and say you’re pissed that downtown sucks so bad that it pisses you off the city on top of everything else dares to charge you parking for it. its either that or some people are scared their little city is growing up and losing its 1980’s parking culture. either way who gives a crap. the port still eauffends
L low bar February 18, 2011
simpson mill: do you have to – do you have to – yes i guess you have to
Y You're Welcome February 18, 2011
Downtown business owner here! We collectively welcomed the parking meters. More than anything, it keeps other business owners from camping out in the prime parking areas. The meters have brought more open spaces and that’s a good thing.
The problem, like the article suggests, is the Parking Nazis! They sit and wait for tickets to expire and write a ticket that very second. The PN’s are writing tickets for the tiniest things (tires not turned, front license plate missing, expired tabs…) things that after parking downtown for a year, for free, I never even heard of anyone getting a ticket for. Our customers are not complaining about paying to park, they’re complaining about $85 tickets.
R rainlover February 18, 2011
Really, how hard is it to act like a grown up and make sure your tabs are current?
Y You're Welcome February 18, 2011
@14, I totally agree. Saturday should be and should have always been free.
T Tacoma1 February 18, 2011
Weird, people actually think that it’s the meter readers fault that they got a ticket for expired tabs? Or for shortchanging the meter?
A little personal responsibility may be in order here. Pay for your tabs, and for all of your parking time, then you won’t get a ticket. It’s no wonder the County is broke. No one wants to pay what they actually owe.
I’m really starting to hate the TNT lately. Not much in depth analysis in any of their reporting that I can see.
R RR Anderson February 18, 2011
A. 2hr time limits are retarded
B. Weekends should be FREE
C. Downtown is DEAD DEAD DEAD weekends and after 5 pm
R RR Anderson February 18, 2011
D. The News Tribune really sucks.
T Tacoma1 February 18, 2011
RR
I agree with B,C, and D.
2 hr time limits in a downtown core (for street parking) has it’s benefits. There are plenty of alternatives for anyone that wants/has to stay longer. Pay parking garages nearby, the free TDome Station lot, and of course we have what’ll be left of PT once the budget meat cleaver takes a few wacks at the schedule
L low bar February 18, 2011
E. get ocryx and joe to follow the meter maid around
B Brent February 18, 2011
As I’m no longer employeed downtown, I don’t know if the same preferential treatment by the PN to people who ,uhh, grease the wheels occurs.
I know it happened before the meters it happened on a regular occurance…
R RR Anderson February 18, 2011
bribery, corrupt public officials… police state spying on peaceful activists.. no jobs…
There is no reason we cant have mass middle-east/Wisconsin style protests right here, right now.
ARISE!
J Jake February 18, 2011
In response to the youtube video above: If I was a Downtown resident in a paid parking zone I would educate myself on the system and let my guests know how the system works. It appears you got up early and took the video so I am guessing the cars were there over Friday night into Saturday morning. All it takes is to put $1.50 into the meter after 8pm on Friday and you are good for the weekend. So either the residents haven’t educated themselves on the system or they are giving the finger to the system. Yes meters may not be needed in some areas of Downtown Tacoma but they are there now and if you don’t pay you get a ticket.
Documenting the issue is a good way to try and make changes but cars with tickets because they broke the law doesn’t put any weight on the issue for me.
R Rick Jones February 18, 2011
Funny. I attended the Parking Management Advisory Task Force meeting last evening. A business owner on Pacific from the UWT area also attended and said the people he found complaining about the meters were all locals. Anyone from out of town laughed at how cheap it was. Because people camp out all day on Saturdays (his busiest day) and Sundays he wants weekday rates for the weekends to continue the rotation mentioned by You’re Welcome @12.
Parking IS free downtown on weekends after 6PM. Free during daylight allows people to use the street all day, leave parking lots unused and hurt businesses who rely on customers who want to shop/eat and move on.
Parking Nazis: NONE are hovering waiting for time to expire. One of their largest issues now is to reverse this perception. Ticketing for other violations? With new tools and a new system the need to understand when and when not to do their job is still evolving.
@7 “Reactionary anti-urban article?” Come on, read the whole thing. It’s fairly balanced but especially the hard copy edition suffers from a rather sensationalistic headline.
L low bar February 18, 2011
that parking meter sure got some pretty lips
T Tacoma1 February 18, 2011
I’m ok with people getting parking tickets for being dumb asses. I think that’s the politically correct term, isn’t it? If not, I’d like to take this time to apologize to all of the dumb asses that I’ve offended here today. It’s not your fault that parking legally is such a difficult task.
E Erik B. February 18, 2011
There is some good news. The parking task force votes to keep pay stations off parts of Market Street which had nearly devastated the Villa and Satellite Coffee. This areas has always had ample empty available parking spaces. The pay stations had turned the area into a near complete dead zone.
K Kat February 19, 2011
I work downtown in customer service and I DO get a lot of costumers upset over the parking (why can’t people just feed the meter, why doesn’t my business validate parking, why do people have to pay). It’s also been harder on my fellow workers (all of us minimum wage/part time) we can’t afford private parking lots or moving our cars every two hours. I just wish there was more parking downtown, like city owned parking lots. Even if they were paid lots, they’d be better then playing the Parking Game.
T Tacoma1 February 19, 2011
Last time I went downtown I took Pierce Transit. I didn’t have any parking problem.
R Rob McNair-Huff February 19, 2011
I ride my bike downtown most days, so the parking is great. Except that there aren’t many good places to lock up a bike outside most establishments…
M minichick February 21, 2011
I parked my right-hand drive car downtown a few weeks ago, displaying the parking decal on the right front window (instructions indicate ‘driver’s side window’). I got back to my car to find a warning notice that I’d be charged $35 if I didn’t correctly display the decal next time. Apparently the attendant was in too much of a hurry to notice the location of my steering wheel! The warning was a source of amusement – a ticket would have been another story.
H Hank February 22, 2011
My understanding was that the paid parking was going to generate revenue for the city by charging people to park in these areas. The reality is that the city is creating revenue by handing out tickets.. warnings are nice.. those little computers could track repeat offenders and could ticket them.. I am not for or against, but leniency for 1st offenders would be nice( I was ticketed 5 minutes late returning to car on 1st offense).. and more importantly, where is the money going.. I live in on a bus line near a park in Tacoma on a busy road with no sidewalks… I know this is a seperate issue, but an issue nonetheless.. moderation, common sense, and a place for kids to walk to the park aside from the street would be nice.
O obie February 25, 2011
You dont understand The leftys want you to stop driving a car. Just take inconvenient, subsidised mass transit… no parking required
R RR Anderson February 26, 2011
take a stand against U.S. SUBSIDIZED, bloody middle eastern dictators by sitting yo over stuffed American posterior down on a bus seat.
End the right wing fossil fuel culture of planet death.
M Mofo from the Hood February 26, 2011
People in City Hall love to call Tacoma “progressive.”
If Tacoma and City Hall were really progressive, we wouldn’t have parking meters because we’re evolved superior beings compared to our parents generation.
L low bar February 26, 2011
people in city hall, state capital, congress and senate can never be progressive because that would be in direct opposition to their supervisors. the man is real. and when you get to be just as rich as the man, you’ll start seeing things differently. unless you were born into money and suddenly get a conscious a la siddhārtha gautama or the only ballsy american to run for office: bobby kennedy, then things get interesting. lefties having power in government and being responsible for parking meters? HA! that’ll be the day. its really too bad the right has been the man’s bitch since the revolution. actually, the right are all just descendants of bitches that once juggled the nuts of the aristocracy. when the land changed hands in the country, so did the bitches.
M Mofo from the Hood February 26, 2011
I’d be satisfied if we just had a few libertarians on the City Council.
R RR Anderson February 26, 2011
Let’s hear it for the Air Force! Those tankers aren’t going to build themselves. UNION FOREVER!
M Mofo from the Hood February 26, 2011
The pay boxes would be more popular if they also sold Pepsi and chips.
M Morty February 26, 2011
It’s not clear to me in the article if business owners are concerned that the City is giving out too many tickets or upset that they only attract customers who are unable to follow parking directions and drive noncompliant cars.
L low bar February 26, 2011
its not clear to anyone accept the meter maid dominatrixing your poor prius up the progressive hole
C crenshaw sepulveda February 27, 2011
I’d be satisfied if we just had a few librarians on the City Council.
M Mofo from the Hood February 27, 2011
Librarians NOT soap opera actors!