Comment 116670

By CharlesBall (registered) | Posted February 29, 2016 at 14:05:47

sub•si•dy (sŭbˈsĭ-dē)►

n.   Monetary assistance granted by a government to a person or group in support of an enterprise regarded as being in the public interest.

n.   Financial assistance given by one person or government to another.

Consider the following:

People who want to shop can park for free at any number of local malls etc so downtown merchants will suffer;

People who work can pay for monthly passes at nongovernmental parking facilities and pay less; and

Market forces usually dictate.

The fact that on street and municipal parking is cheap does not mean that transit riders are subsidizing parking. The two are not directly co-related. (Although I guess you could argue that people who own driveways and pay taxes on their property are subsidizing parking if the municipal rate is below the market rate.)

Free street parking on the other hand is a subsidy. There should be a fee across the city to park your car on the street or on any City property.

Setting municipal rates artificially high (as in beyond market rates) is a tax.

By raising rates you will not reduce driving. You will simply take money out of drivers pockets. Look at any number of examples of this around us. HOV lanes are a good example. They have done essentially nothing to increase ride sharing as studies have shown that the vast majority of users are families.

People generally (meaning the majority of people) don't like public transit. It is inconvenient and, well, not private. People like - no love - privacy. That is why private transportation has been so successful.

If the city can raise rates and increase revenue from parking I am all for that. But if raising rates actually decreases revenue then we are shooting ourselves in the foot.

Comment edited by CharlesBall on 2016-02-29 14:13:40

No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be? George Orwell

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