[MissoulaGov] Parking Kiosks

[Jordan Hess]

Patrick,

I meant to send this last week, but it is still pertinent:

Building new parking structures is far more expensive than providing premier
transit. At $50,000+ per space, parking structures are an extremely
expensive way to get people downtown. It is absurd to imply that Missoula
can't have a good transit system because we are not a large city full of
wealthy people. There are solutions for our size of community.

I'm going to use the University as an example, because I am more familiar
with it than with downtown in terms of parking and transportation, but the
two function similarly in these regards. On campus, ASUM spends about $0.65
per ride provided on the Park and Ride. While this may seem like a lot, in
order to provide parking for the same amount of money, a parking space would
have to turn over more than 5 times a day, 365 days a year for 40 years (a
rather generous lifespan for a parking garage). This doesn't take into
account the cost of maintaining the garage (about $1,000 per space per
year).

Consider this: paying for one person to NOT use a parking space is the exact
same thing as building one new parking space. If by providing better bus
service, I opt not to use an on-campus parking space, it is functionally
identical to the university building one additional parking space, but the
difference is that it cost the university a fraction of the cost.

We need to use this model downtown. Do not build any additional parking.
Instead, spend this money on increasing transit into downtown. This WILL
free up parking used by people who find the current level of transit service
to be inconvenient. This newly available parking can be used by folks who
cannot or simply choose not to ride transit.

Best regards,
Jordan Hess




On Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 12:24 AM, Patrick Nooney <pnooney at earthlink.net>wrote:

> The reality is that, as long as there have been "vehicles", there has never
> been enough parking downtown, for residents, employees, business owners and
> customers.  The University has the same problem.  And the two share the
> same
> fantasies, that we don't need parking structures (that force people to,
> horror of horrors, walk) or we don't need cars.
>
> We have folks who believe, sincerely, that Portland is nirvana with its
> transportation system and "bicycle-friendly" atmosphere.  A number of folks
> think that Seattle has a great system.  And many will salivate over the
> Metro system of Washington DC.  Guess what folks?  You need a couple or
> three million folks (most of them wealthy) to pay for the darn thing.  We
> don't.
>
> Yes. It costs a bunch of bucks to build structures.  And, whoops, you need
> to charge for the privilege.  That is the price of population growth that
> so
> many of us seem to desperately need.
>
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