A friend writes:You're more politically plugged in than I am, do you support this? Arlington County Board is thinking about extending hours [with payment required] on parking meters and possibly garages. "The proposed Parking and Curb Space Management Element is scheduled to be reviewed by the Transportation Commission and the Planning Commission at their meetings on October 29, and November 2, 2009, respectively, prior to the County Board hearing on November 14, 2009."Do I support charging a small amount for parking on nights and weekends? Sure. No reason a community should charge for something during the day, then give it away at night. I'd be more concerned with making sure that all meters take credit cards or allow you to pay by cell phone. I don't want to get a $30 ticket because I couldn't find any quarters at 3am.
My bigger question is this -- has anything that's less of a big deal generated more controversy than Arlington's various proposals to charge a buck or two for parking here and there? I mean, look at this breathless editorial from the Sun Gazette's Scott McCaffrey:
[F]orcing those in Clarendon or other commercial areas to pay for meters well into the evening, or on Sundays, is counterproductive and will place those areas at a severe competitive disadvantage. In the long run, it will reduce the county government’s revenue, not increase it.There is only one problem with that argument: Logic. As I once asked at What's Up Arlington, would any husband really turn to his wife and say, "Honey, I was going to take you to Restaurant 3 for our anniversary tonight, but it's $2 for parking now, so we're having Hungry Man TV dinners instead. Hope you like salisbury steak"?
Say it costs $2 to park in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor for the evening. Does a free alternative really exist? Pay $2 in gas to drive to Alexandria? Pay $4 in gas to drive out to Fairfax? Drive into DC and pay $8 for parking or spend 30 minutes driving around hoping to find a free spot?
Let's face it -- this debate is less about economics than it is about psychology. People hate being asked to pay for something they used to get for free.
4 comments:
Sorry I have to disagree. Very often I end up parking in the county's parking garages and then leave the car there all day (on weekends). The reason I do so IS because the garages are free.
Very often I do make decisions about where to go based on parking and cost. I don't go to Georgetown very often precisely because it cost $$$ to park. And when I do go I factor in the time/effort/difficulty to look for metered parking (free or not).
And yes, what is wrong with being upset that someone that once was free will now cost?
The question is not "is it nice for you to have free parking?" The question is "why should we all pay so you can have free parking?"
Isn't that what taxes are for? I seem to recall paying the county taxes.
It's a scarce good (it's not possible for everyone to have as many as they want) which is both rivalrous (only one car per space, please) and excludable (we can ensure only people who pay use the space).
Economically, you charge a fee for the use of goods meeting that description.
The county is only proposing charging where the on-street spaces are consistently overfull. If there's not a demand for it, they're not going to try to charge.
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