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What's sauce for the Boston goose will soon be sauce for the Brookline gander, at least when he pulls up next to a parking meter
By adamg on Wed, 01/31/2024 - 9:47am
Brookline.News reports Brookline will soon raise the price for all its parking meters to $2 an hour - bringing them in line with what parkers have to pay across the line in the Hub. The extra money will go, in part, to fix broken meters, which could mean even more revenue.
One member of the Select Board said the increase will be fairly invisible since people nowadays mostly use an app to pay, which is far more effortless than rummaging around the center console for some spare quarters.
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Comments
Must be nice
Some of us pay attention to how much things cost even if paid for with credit/app.
It's fine if they want to raise the rate but the attitude of "it's painless" is aggravating. It's only invisible if money isn't a concern.
If the money is a concern...
you can literally park two blocks away, for free. You're still subject to the 2 hour maximum, FYI.
Parking at meters
Do people do this as a daily strategy - like every day, all day? I'm usually only using meter parking on an occasional basis, which is why I wouldn't much notice. It isn't invisible because money isn't a concern, it is invisible because I don't spend much for meter parking because I don't much use it because it gets expensive.
Unless this is your mode of parking on the regular, it seems like a small cost increase in something used a few hours a month is small potatoes in the context of 1) the costs of owning a car, and 2) what it costs to store private property in general.
And if it is your mode of parking on a daily basis, so much so that it matters to your budget, perhaps some reevaluation of your transportation strategy is in order.
Money is money
Even if it's not something one is going to encounter daily, it's still an expense. I think it's rude for public officials to disregard costs as something so trivial as to be "invisible".
Assuming everyone has a few extra dollars a day for miscellaneous expenses and that using an app makes these expenses go away is tone-deaf. That's true even if any one of these little expenses is fine on its own.
I'd say the same thing when BlueBikes raises their prices with the same "no big deal" justification.
Parking is a big deal too
Parking private property on public land is a privilege, not a right — and it’s a privilege that is heavily subsidized for car owners. If it seems expensive, good; it still hardly reflects the externalized cost on the rest of us that forgo an automobile.
I'm not pro-cheap parking for all, but..
That phrasing is the parking equivalent to "It's a banana, Michael. What could it cost? $10?"
the app charges additional
the app charges additional fees. there are also phishing scams appearing on google ads that pose as fake mobile park applications and appear in Brookline
Get rid of the handicap
Get rid of the handicap placard loophole. Construction workers(largely from New Hampshire) all over the Boston area are stealing many thousands of dollars from taxpayers by using BS handicap placard to park for free. And anyone who actually is handicapped and is able to drive is also able to use an app to pay for parking, which is a privilege and not a right.
Well said. More timely
Well said. More timely parking enforcement from the city would also help. Construction workers and others may have a placard, but they likely don’t have a parking sticker for the neighborhood and could get a parking ticket as a result. I don’t understand why Boston doesn’t enforce parking violations more aggressively, considering the amount of income it would generate and especially because there are usually well-known violation “hot spots”. You could argue that employing more enforcement officers carries associated costs, but given the consistent number of violations, the ticket revenue offsets the incremental labor cost quickly.
No app...
No app is going to get you a handicap spot that has accommodations for people with disabilities, unless these spots are set aside.
But I suppose you believe that accommodations for people with disabilities are also a privilege and not a right.
Don't punish handicapped because of abusers
People who are legitimately using a handicapped placard often need to drive and park more than those who don't need handicapped parking, because they're less able to walk what seems like a short distance to you. They are also more likely to be unemployed or under-employed either due to physical limitations or employer discrimination, so the increased cost of parking is a noticeable hit to their budget.
Take The Ride, you say? It's unreliable and has limited hours. When I was using it after an accident that left me in a wheelchair (i.e., unable to just use rideshares or cabs), I had to forfeit tickets I'd bought months earlier because The Ride would have left me waiting alone late at night on a deserted street corner for up to an hour.
Enforcement is the answer
Don't penalize people who actually need cars to get around.
Maybe there should be a bounty system for this? I think if there were things would change quickly. Take a picture of the vehicle, describe the driver, let law enforcement do the rest, and receive a $50 reward when the ticket gets paid. I could easily see people turning it into a gig.
Note that not everyone has a clearly visible mobility disability, either. E.g., some people walk well with a prosthesis - on their "good" days. Others have cardiovascular conditions that limit their range even if they are "able" to walk smoothly.
It would also help if the state linked RMV records to vital records - when my father died, the state that he lived in demanded that I turn in his placard as soon as the death certificate was issued. They also voided it in the system. Massachusetts doesn't do that and that leads to a lot of abuse by survivors.
The solution for this is enforcement
Spot-check the areas where it appears placard fraud may be occurring. Verify that the driver or another occupant of the vehicle has a legitimate right to use the placard, and issue heavy fines if they do not -- and after perhaps a second offense, ban that placard or plate from using handicap spaces/fee-free meters in Boston.
It's not reasonable to tie the use of an accommodation for the handicapped to the use of an app.