This article originally published in Self-Service World magazine, Nov. 2007.
Lane Landrith is a new employee of the City of Boulder, Colo., hired in part to educate Boulderites on a new parking system just installed downtown. Out went the old, coin-only meters, and in came self-service parking stations, which also take plastic."Everyone seems to be in a kind of credit- or debit-card world," Landrith said. "The convenience was a major factor in installing this type of technology."
Citizens mostly love the kiosks, though as Landrith points out, "Any amount of change is always going to be met with some resistance."
Ironically, it was resistance to change — the metal kind — that helped move the city to deploy the units. Now, drivers can carry less change. Businesses can change fewer bills for parking customers. With the swipe of a card, parking becomes a matter of pulling into a space, paying at a kiosk down the block, and returning to the car to place a paper receipt on the dashboard.
One of Boulder's many environmentally conscious folks complained about the use of a natural resource to produce a receipt. And several of the city's cyclists have lamented the loss of chain-friendly meters. (The city is promising to compensate with additional racks.) But so far, no Greenpeacers have chained themselves to the old parking meters to prevent de-meterization.
Other cities have adopted similar systems, but with mixed reception. In Albuquerque, N.M., users took too literally instructions to swipe their payment cards quickly, and believed the reader was broken, sending them scrambling for change. And some handicapped individuals complained that the stations weren't easily
accessible.
But a city official said that despite the glitches, adoption was proceeding well. According to The Albuquerque Tribune, the kiosks bring in $246 per month, or $30 to $40 per parking space, while the old meters returned only $57.58 per month.
The kiosks weren't designed to frustrate commuters, the official told the paper. "The kiosks are supposed to be a help rather than a hindrance."
Landrith has spent time among his own constituency to gauge their reactions, with happier results.
"My encounters were all positive," Landrith said. "I was out on the street, working with businesses and actually standing with information and few tokens to help folks along."
Landrith even held classes for the public throughout the year in anticipation of the new parking plan, but few showed up for them. Downtown business people are his best students. "They see them as a way to get more customers now," he said. He teaches proprietors about the parking technology, and they and their workers, in turn, teach their customers and guests about parking technology, and so the chain continues. One business owner who originally poo-pooed the new parking stations became so enthused he hosted an open forum.
"I make them feel comfortable with technology, and they pass on that positive attitude," Landrith said.
