Many people have concluded that a parking garage is needed in historic Ellicott City because the parking problem is so bad. An article in today’s Sun discusses a few of the perverse parking incentives in downtown EC:
He said people could find parking, though an open space "might not have been just where you want it."
Street parking is free, with a two-hour limit, while lots provide a mix of free and metered spots. That might be backward, Connor said.
The authority might want to hire someone to more aggressively manage parking by offering incentives to park on the fringes of the district or in Circuit Court parking lots atop a nearby hill, the consultant said. That could result in prime spaces along lower Main Street turning over faster, possibly by adding parking meters.
Parking at the courthouse could be aided by a shuttle bus, Connor suggested. Restaurant or store patrons could be offered free parking for a return visit or other incentives, while employees and residents could be lured away from the most congested areas by lower parking fees.
Incentives are now reversed, he said, with prime spaces along Main Street available free, which encourages motorists to occupy them for longer periods or to move their cars to work around the two-hour limit.
I think that last paragraph is the most important. Giving away valuable things for free and then complaining that there is not enough to go around is very strange. I would be willing to bet that much or all of Ellicott City’s parking problems could be cured with a commonsense pricing structure that fixes some of the perverse parking incentives.
1 comments:
I to wondered why the British wore red, and I find your comments rewarding and thought provocating.
Compromise may have offered a solution.
Colors on the front of the uniform, such as green, and or brown may have provided less of a target, while red on the back would offer the benefits of reinforching descipline.
Often there are sides to many items.
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