AGENDA #4b

BUDGET WORKING PAPER

TO:                  W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager

FROM:            Mary Lou Kuschatka, Transportation Director

SUBJECT:       Additional Information Regarding Parking Rates and Options

DATE:             April 24, 2002

This document provides additional information in response to questions raised regarding parking rates and payment mechanisms.

DISCUSSION

Parking Rates

Off-Street

A survey of five area municipal parking operations yields the following information:

• Raleigh charges are either $1 per hour, or $1 per ½ hour, with a maximum daily rate of $6, $8 or $10, depending on the lot.
• Durham charges 60 cents per hour or any portion thereof with a $5.80 maximum.
• Charlotte charges $1.00 for the 1^st half hour and then 50 cents per additional ½ hour with a $10.00 maximum. 
• Greenville S.C. charges 75 cents for the 1^st and 2nd half hour and then 50 cents per additional ½ hour with a $6.00 maximum
• Greensboro offers free parking for the first ½ hour and then 50 cents per hour with a $5.50 maximum.
• The Town of Chapel Hill charges 50 cents per ½ hour for the first four hours, then charges $1.00 per hour from 4 – 6 hours, and $1.20 per hour after 6 hours with a $19.20 maximum.  The recommended new rate is 60 cents per ½ hour.

On-Street (meters)

• Charlotte charges 50 cents for each half hour.
• Greenville S.C. has no on-street parking meters.
• Durham has no meters.
• Greensboro charges 25 cents for each hour.
• Raleigh charges 25 cents for each hour.
• The Town of Chapel Hill charges 50 cents per half hour and $1.00 per hour.
• The proposed rate for Chapel Hill is $1.25 per hour.

Options for Customer Parking Subsidy by Businesses

The Town of Chapel Hill currently offers merchants three methods of paying for their customers’ parking.

• Parking Tokens:

Discounts are offered on a sliding scale depending on the number of tokens purchased.  Each token is good for 30 minutes of parking and costs 50 cents.  The discount ranges from a 10 percent discount for 50-99 tokens to a 25 percent discount for 200 or more tokens.  The tokens are not accepted in meters although they could be with reprogramming of the meters.  Discounts rates would remain the same for parking tokens but any increase in fees would be based upon approval of proposed parking rate increases.

• Coupons:

With prior approval, merchants may print coupons that will be accepted in off-street lots as payment of fees. The coupons would be valid for 30 minutes of parking.  Parking Services would bill the merchant based on the number of coupons redeemed per month.  Redemption of 100 coupons (50 hours) would result in a 20 percent discount; 200 coupons (100 hours) in a 25 percent discount.  Any increase in coupons would be based upon approval of proposed parking rate increases.

• Monthly Validation Accounts:

Merchants can be permitted to validate parking tickets with prior approval.  The validating merchant is then charged based on the minimum number of validated tickets redeemed per month.  Redemption of 50 hours results in a 20 percent discount; 100 hours results in a 25 percent discount.  Any increase in parking validation charges would be based upon approval of proposed parking rate increases.

Options for Parking Payment Mechanisms

The new meters have the ability to accept “smart card” technology.  Specifically, we could allow use of a magnetic stripe card that can be programmed for a set value by Parking Services.  It would give the user the convenience of not carrying coins.  Each time the card was inserted in the meter, time would be added to the meter and value subtracted from the card.  Parking Services could renew the card’s value.

We are attempting to determine the feasibility and costs of accepting credit cards as payment of parking fines, parking space rentals and the valuation of “smart cards.”  It is possible that the increase in revenue may not offset the costs of administering the credit card system due to the relatively small values per transaction.

Follow-up on Grace Period Request on Parking Meters

The recently purchased electronic parking meters can be programmed to allow for a grace period of three, six, or more minutes to elapse before the “expired” indication is shown on the meter.  I would recommend the meters initially be reprogrammed to allow for the six-minute grace period.  The grace period could be increased or decreased if the initial grace period did not produce the desired results.  Although there will be some reduction in parking meter and ticket revenue, the grace period will tend to offset some of the negative effects of the general fee increase.  We believe it may reduce the number of citation appeals filed as well as reduce staff time and administrative costs in handling appeals.

Follow-up to Request for Meters to Accept Nickels and Dimes

Meters are currently programmed to accept dimes and quarters only.  They have the ability to accept all denomination coins.  As rates increase, smaller value coins become less significant.  For example, at a parking rate of $1.00 per hour, 20 nickels would be needed for an hour of parking.  The additional volume of coins in the meter’s cash vault could cause the meter to fill up quickly which would require the meters to be emptied more often than may be feasible with present staffing.