Handwritten protests against higher meter fees in Back Bay

By adamg on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 10:22am

Protest against higher fees to park in the Back Bay

Somebody's going around the Back Bay taping protests to parking meters against the meter increase that went into effect on Jan. 3 as an experiment in demand pricing for parking. Scott Kennedy took the photo before he removed the tape on this meter and three others.

Neighborhoods:

Back Bay

Topics:

Driving

Free tagging:

Parking

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Comments

People are complaining about

By cden4
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:47am

People are complaining about $3.75. They'd be burning down City Hall if they raised them as much as you are suggesting, even if that indeed may be where the price needs to end up to have an impact on demand. (I don't think the price does need to get that high, because people are VERY price sensitive when it comes to parking.)

The City picked $3.75 as a reasonable number for a pilot program. It will be able to show them if raising the price has any effect on demand. If it has even a small effect, it will have been successful. If the effect is not enough, the City will have to raise it further. The City does not want to raise it any more than they have to. They know that that would not benefit drivers or local businesses.

To reduce the demand..

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:26pm

It must be cost prohibitive. Any cost below the price of admission to a pay garage does nothing to effect demand.

Any cost below the price of

By DTP
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:49pm

Any cost below the price of admission to a pay garage does nothing to effect demand.

Not true. A price that's higher than the old price but lower than a garage may discourage someone who otherwise would have parked there from parking at all, and at the very least it will encourage people to look elsewhere - like in a nearby neighborhood that doesn't have demand pricing. It also affects the point at which you decide to give up on circling the block looking for parking and decide to just park in a garage instead. The less the price differential between meters and garages, the less time people are comfortable wasting looking for a meter space.

Demand exceeds supply, obviously.

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:57pm

For each incremental increase, a certain number of drivers will say that's to much and I'm not parking there. But demand is such that someone else will take that spot. There are people currently paying garage prices, so there's still a demand at that price point. I'm of the mindset that all meter prices are about generating revenue, and not looking out for citizens. My argument is, if the goal is to reduce demand, then make it prohibitive for the average person to afford, which garages are a lot of times. If the goal is to increase revenue, come up with some silly justification for 'on-demand' pricing and watch your coffers fill three-fold. Or to put it another way, if all spots will still be full, what demand did they reduce? None. But there sure did increase their own receipts.

The Mayor's explicit

By Brent Jeffries
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 5:52pm

The Mayor's explicit rationale for the higher pricing wasn't so much to discourage people from driving and parking, it was to discourage people from keeping the spot all day. Problem is, this higher pricing doesn't seem likely to be much of a disincentive and I doubt it will do much to curtail that problem. A better solution would seem to be simply to increase the fine for parking on a block more than 2 hours. Why not making it $75 instead of $25 or $30 or whatever it is now? I know in the Back Bay they aggressively ticket for this as it is, so it's not like it would have required any increase in resources. This pilot seems to be nothing more than a way to test out higher meter rates, not to solve the problem of spot hoarding.

There are literally THOUSANDS

By Kinopio
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:50am

There are literally THOUSANDS of free parking spaces in the Boston area. It costs $0 to get a residential sticker in Boston. Drivers in MA pay less and less every year in gas tax while T users pay more and more every year. There are people being gouged around here, but it sure as hell aren't the greedy drivers.

Agreed

By Marco
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:01pm

I'm not gonna sit here and say that the price they are asking is too much (it's not) but trying to frame this as anything but a money grab is disingenuous. They raised the price a few years back to $.25 for 12 mins instead of 15. Raise it again across the board if you need money. Saying raising the price to these levels will REDUCE demand for these spots in DOWNTOWN BOSTON is insulting everyone's intelligence. The spots will still be full from now until the ocean swallows this town.

Right

By anon²
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:16pm

Demand Pricing.

So the price goes up when demand is there. It goes down when there is less to keep spaces filled. The plan is not to change parking habits for the moment, but to price to keep spaces filled during this trial and find the optimum pricing.

It doesn't have to reduce demand

By erik g
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:45pm

It's not like we don't already know how much drivers value parking. However much the parking garages nearby are charging, is what the market will bear. I don't usually make arguments from pure economics, but this is one of those black-and-white cases where we know the answer, full-stop. If people weren't willing to pay it, the garages would go out of business or lower their prices. The ones downtown don't seem to be hurting for business. QED. Meanwhile, the city has been providing a nearly-free lunch to drivers for decades, and has decided to raise prices from 5% of market value to 15% of market value. I'm sure y'all will find a way to deal with it, or will find other means of transit to get into the city.

(Yes, I drive. No I don't drive when I want to go downtown, because that would be crazy)

A lot of companies.

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:29pm

subsidize and/or cover parking fees. Surely you don't think the guy who works in the mail room drives to work and parks in a garage every day. One trip through a garage looking at the types of cars parked there says a lot.

And a lot of companies don't.

By DTP
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:56pm

And a lot of companies don't. In fact I don't personally know anyone who works downtown and gets subsidized parking. I know my building would be happy to sell me a parking permit - for somewhere in the neighborhood of $600/month.

I can name a few C-level execs

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:59pm

That I know personally who get reimbursed in full for parking. I can also name a couple security guards who get pretty sweet parking spots free of charge. And I can reasonably assume there are C-level guys at other companies who get this same benefit. Just because you don't know of anyone doesn't mean no one exists who gets that benefit.

Explain

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:56pm

What is a "c-level exec"?

Because even the president of my company pays for her own damn parking.

CEO, CFO, COO, etc

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 5:13pm

Not all companies are created equal my friend. No where did I say all c-levels get this benefit, but of course there are some that do. I even know of a guy who claimed he had to drive into the city due to his kids, requested more money in his offer letter, and got it.

.

By MattyC
Fri, 01/20/2017 - 9:10am

And just because you do know

By DTP
Fri, 01/20/2017 - 8:40am

And just because you do know of someone who does doesn't mean the majority of people do get this benefit. That logic works both ways.

Also, good job limiting the scope to corporate executives after the fact.

Use a private garage

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:06pm

When my husband and I decide that cycling over black ice isn't a great idea, or when we need to go fetch our kid at college directly after work, that's exactly what we do.

Pick-up kids

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:09pm

Ok, where in the Back Bay / South End / Downtown do you need a cheaper parking meter park your car to get your kids? We're not putting meters on residential streets in Hyde Park here...

Wait a quick second

By Waquiot
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:18pm

In the metered areas, there is a theoretical limit of 2 hours, using one of these spaces after driving to work is technically illegal even if it were free. As for the kids thing, I did the math, and 4 minutes is $.25. Let's be honest, it's going to take more than 4 minutes to pick up a kid, so let's say you put in a buck for a quarter hour. Ask yourself this question- what do you think the daily rate is for daycare in the areas where you get 15 minutes of parking for a buck? A lot more than I paid in Roslindale, you can be assured.

If these rates cause more turnover, it's a success. If no one parks anymore, perhaps the rates should be lowered.

Obnoxious. There's clearly

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:00am

Obnoxious. There's clearly some kind of instructions/info being covered up. Couldn't put the sticker on the upper part of the metal where there's nothing there?

Tripling parking meter rates

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:22am

Tripling parking meter rates for the blue collar working class, such as plumbers, electricians, guys doing construction work... just sucks. I get raising meter rates, but tripling? That's too damn much.

Wouldn't the cost of parking

By cden4
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:43am

Wouldn't the cost of parking just get built into the price of their services? Would you rather these service people not be able to find a space and waste time circling around and around?

The T fare has gone up way

By Kinopio
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:43am

The T fare has gone up way more than the average parking meter in this city in recent decades. Same for the gas tax. Drivers are spoiled babies who are subsidized heavily by taxpayers.

The workers you mentioned don't care about the cost of meters because they don't pay them. They just illegally park at meters for hour after hour, or they block bike lanes or park on sidewalks. Look at the dashboards of their vehicles. They are littered with parking tickets because they have no respect for the law. The just pass the cost of the tickets on to their customers.

I pay $116.50 a month for a MTA pass

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:31pm

A lot more than what I paid in Mass. This idea that the T is over priced is simply wrong.

Yes, but look at how much

By DTP
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:52pm

Yes, but look at how much more you get for that extra $32/month!

24/7 service!

True express service!

Far more reliable and frequent service!

236 route-miles of service instead of 64!

24/7 service!

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:05pm

24/7 service!

Not true per se, depends on which line, and which stop. For example the Wall Street stop closes after 11, I've had to walk a few city blocks, or get on the local train a few times.

True express service!

You think MBTA trains are crowded? Try getting on an express train during rush hour anywhere after the first three stops.

Far more reliable and frequent service!

Maybe, but that's only because the T is abhorrent when it comes to reliability. These trains break down too.

236 route-miles of service instead of 64!

Yes, but that comes with the caveat of it being NYC trains where anything is possible. As I mentioned on UHub last week, someone took a #2 on the #2 train. You get harassed by 'performers' every day, and you'll find at least one shouting match as well. Not to mention the young lady who was pushed in front of a train and died, by some nutjob who said she had a dream she did it, so woke up and did it.

I've had to walk a few city

By DTP
Fri, 01/20/2017 - 8:42am

I've had to walk a few city blocks, or get on the local train a few times.

Oh you poor, poor baby! It must be so awful for you having to take the local train at night because the express train isn't running! I don't know how you manage to cope!

Wow, what a warped sense of

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:21pm

Wow, what a warped sense of reality you have. Get enough tickets and your car gets booted. Got unpaid parking tickets? Good luck renewing your license or registration. It's not going to happen until you pay the tickets, late fees. etc. But that's a nice fantasy you have there K. Maybe you should change your attitude and the world might look a little brighter to you. Your hatred is clearly affecting your view of the world. Just sayin bro.

The city has parking permits

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:44am

The city has parking permits for contractors to reserve spaces in front of job sites for the duration of a project. But that would involve the contractors waddling their asses over to a second window at City Hall while they are pulling their other construction permits and bill it to the client.

You do realize that they are not free, right?

By whyaduck
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:14pm

https://www.boston.gov/departments/public-works/ho...

For trucks making deliveries

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 3:19pm

For trucks making deliveries and things like that, but definitely not for employees like plumbers, electricians, etc.

You're not a city boy, are you?

By anon²
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:00pm

Construction workers get an all day, multiple site parking pass in the city. Around 7am they get a nice orange pass delivered right to their illegally parked work truck by a nice lady in vest.

They keep it visible on their windshield all day which allows them to move around and park wherever they want. For $40 they can park where most people can not, and never get hassled.

Not a bad system, and just part of doing bussiness in the city. But $40 is cheap for what's essentially a park hopping pass when you compare it to the stay in one location garages.

Especially when you look the city price for permitting curbside space for a worksite or for a moving truck. Hint: it's a lot more than $40.

Even better than that

By Stevil
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:08pm

There are lots of commercial parking spaces where you can park for free. Also, commercial vehicles can park in resident permit spots (you need commercial plates and the name of your company permanently affixed to your vehicle) - but in general most contractors can still get free parking or pay for an hour or two of parking and get it later. I have also had contractors charge a "transit" fee - which is code for "I'm assuming I'm going to get ticketed and you're paying for it whether I do or not".

Those people you list

By Marco
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:05pm

should have commercial plates and free parking in commercial zones. If they are impatient and want to park in a metered spot then they need to pay the fee, sorry. If they do not have commercial plates that is on them.

Blue collar yes

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:11pm

but c'mon plumbers and electricians make bank in addition to all the reasons listed by other commenters. The person who is getting hosed here is someone working at a phone store or the like who had to drive in to work at a low paying job.

Why would an employee be

By cden4
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:27pm

Why would an employee be parking at a 2-hour meter?

Very common

By Stevil
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 9:27pm

Retail workers, hairdressers, chiropractors and many more have been commuting in by car for years. They have the park and move routine down to a science. Unfortunately science just tripled in price.

The meter rate increase

By cden4
Fri, 01/20/2017 - 2:05pm

The meter rate increase should help to curb this behavior as well then. Meter spaces are for short term parking (in particular customers) not for employees. Opening up more of these spaces to be able to be used by customers will benefit the local businesses. Employees should be parking in garages, or if that's too expensive, using another way to get to work.

construction workers don't pay parking

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:43pm

they park there before meters start and never feed them. If they haven't already put an old ticket under the wiper as a trick, they expense the tix they get and the company pays it - cost is passed through to the client. They don't care about raising rates since they don't pay them now. Their billable rates are such that it's cheaper to do this than to free them every 2-4 hours to find a new spot. The only one that maybe doesn't is the foreman, who typically will get a monthly garage spot paid for them by the company since they're there every day. Nice try appealing to class though.

I'vew been working

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 3:24pm

I'vew been working construction in Boston for 24 years now and I have never gotten a free parking spot. I used to park in the fan pier mud lots back in the day when they existed, but never, ever have I gotten a free parking spot. What fantasy blue collar hating world are you living in?

company paid parking tickets

By bostnkid
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 4:54pm

I work for a company that does a lot of work in the city. the techs park in meter spots and the company pays for the tickets. they don't move from spot to spot. many of them cant park in garages because of restrictions and the fact that they have to haul tools and equipment. the only rule is no handicap spots and no hydrants.

Perhaps you should replace it

By cden4
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:24am

Perhaps you should replace it with a sign that says:

"Think $3.75 an hour is too high? Would you prefer that all the spaces be full? You're welcome."

or no parking

By hux
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:28am

And we don't have to store people's hulking personal property on the street.
And we just have nicer streets, wider sidewalks, and safer bikers/pedestrians.

And much less noise pollution

By Kinopio
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:45am

And much less noise pollution. And no more auto exhaust that causes asthma and lung cancer. if Oslo can ban cars from their city center than we can too.

If we had a much better public transit system

By whyaduck
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:09pm

then we would have fewer drivers into the city.

Until that time....

convenience parking

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:19pm

People using meters are only very rarely commuters. They are "dropping in" to run errands or go to a meeting. The spaces are a convenience unless there is a disability involved.

I'm not sure transit availability would change that. It might help if there were more bike racks - at least part of the year - but even then it may be a matter of hauling stuff or coming from a transit deficient place.

I mean, I'm all for car-free

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:14pm

I mean, I'm all for car-free cities, but we're still going to need the bus system.

Streets are made for cars, get over it.

By Scauma
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:35pm

And I'm not even a car owner! But this idea that everyone but the arrogant driver is getting hosed is just wrong.

so move

By Saul
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:47pm

There are plenty of places in this great country — most places, in fact — where you're right.

So why again are you staying in Boston?

Oh they are, are they?

By DTP
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 1:54pm

Oh they are, are they?

What kind of cars did the Romans drive?

Not in Boston they weren't

By Jeff F
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:08pm

Nearly all of Boston's streets - including the broad boulevards of Comm and Mass Aves, were designed and built for pedestrians and drawn-carriage - before motorized autos were ever a common sight in America.

[img]http://www.bahistory.org/CommAveBackBayc1900BPL_Lo...

[img]http://williamlanday.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-co...

[img]http://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY_4a13542a...

[img]http://www.shorpy.com/files/images/SHORPY-4a13532a...

[img]http://www.sta-design.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/...

[img]http://rightsofmypeople.com/site/wp-content/galler...

Original Plans for Commonwealth and Boylston

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 2:54pm

No car lanes

Bike lanes in each direction.

Oh, and cyclists were the ones who got the roads in this country paved, dearie.

How about a year-long pilot

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:38am

How about a year-long pilot program that targets ONLY the Roslindale neighborhood -- let's triple the meal tax on Roslindale restaurants. You don't NEED to eat out, so let's just see what happens. Maybe there will be less people going to restaurants so less traffic in Roslindale, right?

Good thing you don't work in a produce department

By adamg
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:03pm

Because you seem unable to differentiate between apples and oranges.

There are numerous things wrong with your idea, starting with the fact that, unlike parking spaces in the Back Bay, the number of seats in Roslindale restaurants is not fixed. If demand goes up, restaurant owners can add seats and hours (like, maybe the new Derna's would finally open). You can't do that in the Back Bay. Oh, wait, you can - it's called that garage on Newbury Street, and it charges tons more than meters and IT MAKES MONEY so there's obviously demand.

How about polling local

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 11:54am

How about polling local businesses and restaurants to see what the feedback from their driving/ non-driving customers is?

How would they know?

By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 12:16pm

Someone walks in your door, off the sidewalk, and you have no idea if they came with a car or came on foot or off the T. You might know a bike was involved if they have a helmet, but that's about it.

I tend to shop and eat at the

By anon
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 5:43pm

I tend to shop and eat at the same local places every week... so I've gotten to know the people that work at these businesses and we chat. Lots of businesses get to know their regular customers... it's not unusual. Furthermore, I didn't mean this to be a suggestion that would lead to a serious scientific study, just an informal polling of local businesses.

Budget. Transportation Department. Parking Clerk...

By theszak
Thu, 01/19/2017 - 6:16pm

Budget. Transportation Department. Parking Clerk
https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/imce-up...

Personnel data. Transportation Department
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/databases...

Or a really nice new bike every three months.

Handwritten protests against higher meter fees in Back Bay

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