INDUSTRY NEWS:
Texas Parking Association members are continually monitoring the latest and most important industry news that affects parking.
CITY OF HOUSTON
NEWS RELEASE
GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: February 26, 2010
CONTACTS: Liliana Rambo, CAPP
Director of Parking Management Division
713.853.8193
Public/Private Partnership to Help Ease Parking Congestion in Rice Village
Houston - To help alleviate parking issues in Rice Village, the City of Houston Parking Management Division of the General Services Department, in coordination with Lamesa Village, will open a paid parking lot at 2400 Bolsover on March 1, 2010. The parking lot is bounded by Morningside, Kelvin and Bolsover and will be open to the visitors and employees of Rice Village.
"This partnership is a win-win situation for the community and the City," said Council Member Anne Clutterbuck, "I am pleased with the combined efforts put forth by both Lamesa Village and the Parking Management division."
Parking rates at the new lot will be $1 per hour before 6 pm and $2 per hour after 6 pm. The lot is equipped with solar-powered wireless pay stations that accept credit cards, cash or coins. Customers will need to remember to enter the number of their parking spaces and their desired amount of time. Once payment is received, the pay station will print out a receipt that will provide their expiration time. These receipts are only valid for parking in Lamesa Village's Bolsover Lot and cannot be used to park at metered parking spaces in other locations.
Monthly parking permits are available for employees in the area for $50 per month.
"Difficulty in parking has driven some customers away." said Aubrey Mendonca of Perimeter Gallery. "Knowing it will be less of a hassle to find parking will encourage customers to return to Rice Village."
To ensure that long-term parkers are storing their vehicles off-street and to increase the availability of on-street parking, the City will conduct a soft enforcement period where vehicles in violation of the on-street two-hour parking limits are issued warnings. Citation issuance will begin on March 1. Additionally, vehicles with three or more outstanding parking citations or only one outstanding handicap parking violation will be subject to booting.
Parking Management will have Ambassadors stationed at the parking lot to help visitors during the transition to the new technology. The parking lot will operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the lot will take place on Monday, March 1 at 1 pm. The parking lot is located at 2400 Bolsover and bound by Morningside and Kelvin. The ceremony will be presided over by Council Member Anne Clutterbuck, District C.
For more information about the City of Houston Parking Management, please visit www.houstonparking.org or contact City's helpline at 3-1-1 or 713-837-0311 if outside the City of Houston.
State Lawmakers Take Aim at Free Parking
January 29, 2010Patrick McGreevy, Reporting from Sacramento
There is too much of it, they say, and it encourages people to drive instead of taking the bus, walking or bicycling. A Senate proposal would prompt cities and businesses to reduce its availability.
INDUSTRY NEWS:
Texas Parking Association members are continually monitoring the latest and most important industry news that affects parking.
INDUSTRY NEWS:
Texas Parking Association members are continually monitoring the latest and most important industry news that affects parking.
CITY OF HOUSTON
NEWS RELEASE
GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: February 26, 2010
CONTACTS: Liliana Rambo, CAPP
Director of Parking Management Division
713.853.8193
Public/Private Partnership to Help Ease Parking Congestion in Rice Village
Houston - To help alleviate parking issues in Rice Village, the City of Houston Parking Management Division of the General Services Department, in coordination with Lamesa Village, will open a paid parking lot at 2400 Bolsover on March 1, 2010. The parking lot is bounded by Morningside, Kelvin and Bolsover and will be open to the visitors and employees of Rice Village.
"This partnership is a win-win situation for the community and the City," said Council Member Anne Clutterbuck, "I am pleased with the combined efforts put forth by both Lamesa Village and the Parking Management division."
Parking rates at the new lot will be $1 per hour before 6 pm and $2 per hour after 6 pm. The lot is equipped with solar-powered wireless pay stations that accept credit cards, cash or coins. Customers will need to remember to enter the number of their parking spaces and their desired amount of time. Once payment is received, the pay station will print out a receipt that will provide their expiration time. These receipts are only valid for parking in Lamesa Village's Bolsover Lot and cannot be used to park at metered parking spaces in other locations.
Monthly parking permits are available for employees in the area for $50 per month.
"Difficulty in parking has driven some customers away." said Aubrey Mendonca of Perimeter Gallery. "Knowing it will be less of a hassle to find parking will encourage customers to return to Rice Village."
To ensure that long-term parkers are storing their vehicles off-street and to increase the availability of on-street parking, the City will conduct a soft enforcement period where vehicles in violation of the on-street two-hour parking limits are issued warnings. Citation issuance will begin on March 1. Additionally, vehicles with three or more outstanding parking citations or only one outstanding handicap parking violation will be subject to booting.
Parking Management will have Ambassadors stationed at the parking lot to help visitors during the transition to the new technology. The parking lot will operate 24 hours per day, seven days per week.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate the lot will take place on Monday, March 1 at 1 pm. The parking lot is located at 2400 Bolsover and bound by Morningside and Kelvin. The ceremony will be presided over by Council Member Anne Clutterbuck, District C.
For more information about the City of Houston Parking Management, please visit www.houstonparking.org or contact City's helpline at 3-1-1 or 713-837-0311 if outside the City of Houston.
State Lawmakers Take Aim at Free Parking
January 29, 2010Patrick McGreevy, Reporting from Sacramento
There is too much of it, they say, and it encourages people to drive instead of taking the bus, walking or bicycling. A Senate proposal would prompt cities and businesses to reduce its availability.
State lawmakers are taking aim at what some of them see as a menace to California's environment: free parking.
There is too much of it, the legislators say, and it encourages people to drive instead of taking the bus, walking or riding a bike. All that motoring is contributing to traffic jams and pollution, according to state Sen. Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), and on Thursday he won Senate approval of a proposal he hopes will prompt cities and businesses to reduce the availability of free parking.
"Free parking has significant social, economic and environmental costs," Lowenthal said. "It increases congestion and greenhouse gas emissions."
Republicans opposed the measure, saying the Legislature should not be meddling in how much people pay to park.
"If local governments want to entice people to shop or do business in a particular area, that is entirely their business. Not the state's," said Sen. Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach). The bill, supported by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club, provides financial incentives for cities and counties to stop providing free parking on the street and at government offices and to reduce the amount they require businesses to provide.
Cities that take such action could get more state money for parking garages and transit programs and bonus points in competing for state grants. When a store provides free parking, the cost to maintain, clean, insure, secure and light the parking lot is passed on to shoppers in higher prices for goods, said Justin Horner, an analyst with the NRDC. Free street parking is paid for by the entire community in the form of higher taxes, he said.
Lowenthal said that when businesses pay for their employees' parking, more of them drive to work. "It's nice that we've been treated to this luxury," Lowenthal said. "The problem with free parking is it's not free."
patrick.mcgreevy @latimes.com
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-free-parking29-2010jan29,0,211620.story
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times