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The Price of Street Parking
Just last week, the S.F. Board of Supervisors took a look at the idea of raising the price of parking meters and parking fines to cover a $15.1 million shortfall in the MUNI budget. The proposal hopes to generate $9.5-10 million in increased revenues:
It already costs $2 an hour to park at a meter downtown. Sonali Bose, the agency's chief financial officer, said charging that price across the city could generate another $4.5 million to $5 million. Boosting the cost of a parking ticket by $5 could add another $4 million to the pot, she said. Parking illegally in a street-cleaning zone, for example, now costs $40.
Today's Matier and Ross, however, contains an interesting little tidbit (you need to scroll down below the HP story) -- the most expensive meters in town aren't generating their anticipated revenue. In fact, the $3.00/hour financial district meters are collecting only $2.61/day.
While the Supervisors are scratching their heads trying to figure out why the collection rates are so low, I believe that they have simply priced themselves out of the parking business. At $3.00/hour, that's $24.00 for an 8-hour day, which is more than what some of the bargain private lots will charge. Private parking also adds the benefit that a lot space doesn't expire like meters, and parkers don't run the risk of being fined for an expired meter (this is even more attractive, when tickets increase in price as well). Even in the neighborhood where I grew up, where parking is scarce, the jump in the meter price from $1.00/hour to $1.50/hour was enough to lead to increased circling, and plenty of empty meters. While street parking is valued, it's only worth it, if it's less costly than private alternatives.
Also, who these days totes around $3.00+ in small change in their pockets or the dashboard ashtray?
Comments (5)
absolutely!! it's ridiculous parking downtown. luckily i either walk or am going down there after 6pm. what kills are those meters that are enforced on saturdays...then you're stuck!
Posted on Jan-24-2007 | Link
I tend to carry five to ten bucks' worth of quarters around. :)
Posted on Jan-24-2007 | Link
I carry a pile of quarters. Although one hour's meeting and it's depleted.
Posted on Jan-25-2007 | Link
Actually, the weirdest part of this is that people don't know how to explain it. Your too-expensive theory may be a factor, and the risk element (especially with suspicions that meter clocks run fast).
Posted on Jan-25-2007 | Link
Changing prices changes behavior. Econ 101. Raising prices will not necessarily increase revenues unless the demand around that price range was inelastic. I hope Sonali Bose has done her arithmetic taking that basic fact into account.
The same sort of error is made by bureaucrats who are not economics literate: they think that pushing taxes higher will get the government more revenues. Not so, since people start to evade what they consider unfair taxes. Besides, taxes slow down the economy and thus have secondary effects of reducing revenues.
Posted on Jan-27-2007 | Link