GALVESTON’S NEW PARKING METERS WILL BE READY TO RAT ON YOU WHEN YOU’RE RUNNING LATE Downtown Galveston’s unofficial era of free parking will come to a rather abrupt end as workers install new solar-powered meters that automatically notify enforcement officers when a space runs out of time. If you’re under the limit, you’ll be able to add more time to your meter from a mobile phone. The new wireless meters will be installed on streetcorners between 20th and 25th streets and Harborside Dr. to Postoffice St.: “The city has removed 707 of the hurricane-damaged coin-operated meters and more than a dozen of the larger meters that accepted credit cards. Shortly after Hurricane Ike struck Galveston on Sept. 13, 2008, filling downtown streets with a salty storm surge, city crews cracked open the machines and removed the corroded, green coins. They cracked the meters open again recently and found $1,600 more in coins that people fed into the dead meters. Those coins also were corroded. The city plans to turn the coins into the U.S. Mint for reimbursement.” [Galveston County Daily News; more details]
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Great! It’ll be like downtown Houston where the meters can’t be maintained, are often broken, steal your money, and cost more than they can recoup before they have to be replaced!
but they are solar so it will be green mismanagement.
At least the city can make a little extra money now! Why they haven’t addressed this much sooner is beyond me, but this is Galveston…
You don’t make money off these meters (which is why they are such a joke). They cost more to initially buy, operate, and maintain.
This is the attitude politicians pandering to the greenies depend on….. the unwillingness of said greenies to research and therefore easily debunk their fraudulent claims of saving the earth.
I will bet the city will make a small amount of money on them – through fines – not money in the slot. Galveston is small time Kjb434, $8,000 a year from these meters would be big money to Galveston.
Also the city is not running the maintenance of these machines (last I heard) its Ampco Parking. They will also be responsible for replacing the meters when damaged due to storm waters.
Maybe Galveston can show the City of Houston how to work them then….
You guys must not be in-the-loop on Galveston politics. The City isn’t installing parking meters to raise money; they’re doing it because the residents of downtown Galveston are using on-street parking instead of their assigned spaces on private property because on-street parking is frequently more convenient. (My parents do this all the time.) The big problem is that it ties up parking spaces that patrons of downtown businesses would otherwise be able to use.
That’s why the downtown businesses are totally on-board with parking meters; price is an efficient means of rationing a scarce good.
The City knows that it won’t make anything from the meters. They know that. But if the businesses do better with rationed parking, then sales taxes increase and–in theory–so do property taxes. And one way or the other, it’s a stronger downtown area.
Wow this is the closest article to the truth I’ve found since on this new passed meter ordinance. Am I the only publisher who is completely against these meters? These meters are a terrible idea and will have a long term net loss I believe. I’ve already published a full length article detailing my reasons why. I also listed the prices they’ll be charging.
http://galvestoninterests.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/galveston-to-install-parking-meters-to-tax-citizens-8-per-day-as-local-business-pays-the-price/