WBEZ | parking

Disability parking crackdown leads to 60 citations

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:05:00 -0600

Police issued 60 citations in the first weekend of a crackdown on people who park illegally in disability spaces — and they're not done yet.

Secretary of State Jesse White said in a statement Monday the enforcement effort will continue throughout the holiday season at shopping malls statewide.

White said the goal of the crackdown is to ensure disability spaces are available for people who need them.

Among the malls patrolled last weekend were Water Tower Place in Chicago, Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg and shopping centers in Rockford, Springfield, Carbondale, Champaign and Peoria.

Anyone caught illegally using a placard or disability license plates could be fined up to $500.

This is the seventh year of the holiday parking enforcement program. Last year, Secretary of State police issued 187 citations.

The high cost of downtown parking – in 1970

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 05:00:00 -0500

Downtown garages are getting expensive – and we know what's happened to our parking meters. Yet this is nothing new. On this August 13th in 1970, Chicagoans were complaining about the high cost of parking.

“Drive to the Loop to save money? Forget it!” the Tribune said. And it did seem like the CTA offered a cheaper alternative. The basic bus or "L" fare was 45 cents. Even if a 10-cent transfer were added both ways, that worked out to $1.10 for a daily round trip.

That cost compared to a minimum of $1.50 for all-day parking at the least expensive Loop garages. Luckily for the car-driving public, gas prices were holding steady at 40 cents a gallon.

The problem was supply-and-demand. There were about 53,000 parking spaces in the central part of the city. But new construction on the edge of downtown was taking over land occupied by parking lots. At the same time, that new construction was bringing more auto commuters into the area.

Parking rates varied by geography. Garages near State and Madison were most expensive – the typical charge was $4 for eight hours, with some places edging up to $6. As you moved outward, prices dropped. North and west of the river, you could expect to pay $1 or $2 for the same eight hours.

Like any wise shopper, you could save money by doing comparison shopping. One Lake Street garage charged $1.50 for the first hour, and $3.50 for an eight-hour stay. A half-block down the street, the prices were $1.15 for the first hour, and a flat $3 for anything up to 24 hours.

The best rates were offered by the Grant Park Garage. Since it was owned and operated by the city, the garage functioned as a public convenience. More than 3,500 cars could be stored in the underground lot, with the maximum eight-hour price set at $1.70.

So now you are in the year 2012, and you read this story, and you see the cheap parking prices of four decades ago. You feel a little envy. But remember, all things are relative. Back in 1970, the newspaper that reported the story cost only 10 cents.

Sorry, got to go now. I've got to buy another parking receipt to slap on my dashboard.

Need a parking space? Look in your hand

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 08:54:00 -0500

It's one of the great frustrations of urban life: the seemingly unending search for a parking space.

Motorists drive themselves crazy circling the block looking for a place to park while wasting gas and polluting the air.

But the city of San Francisco has turned to technology for help — it is testing a smartphone app that shows drivers the location of available parking places. The app also tells them how much the space will cost, and prices are adjusted depending on demand.

Demetrius Martin, an actor and producer, recalls the stress of looking for work in San Francisco. "I had to learn the city under the duress of making it to an audition on time," he says. "You're probably going to have to park illegally and end up getting a ticket. That will be your fee for the day."

Martin is in his car, holding an iPhone, and launching a new app offered by the city. It gives a driver real-time information, on a block-by-block basis, about exactly where and when there are parking spaces available.

Demand-based parking prices

Red dots show there is extremely low availability, and blocks marked in sky blue or darker blue mean there's higher availability.

Sensors installed at more than 8,000 parking metered spaces and more than 12,000 spaces in city-owned garages allow the application to update itself every 60 seconds.

"I like that they have price and availability because that's — in any metro area — that's another challenge you have to consider," he says. "The prices per 20 minutes, let alone per hour are so high that you kind of lose your shirt."

Under this new system, parking meter prices are adjusted higher in areas with high demand. The idea is that higher prices will discourage drivers and push them to blocks where space is available. For now, rates can be changed only once a month.

This pricing structure and the parking app are part of a pilot project called SFpark, which is funded through a $19.8 million federal grant from the Department of Transportation.

"One of the most exciting things about this project is that it's going to create an unprecedented data set — bringing together data from parking meters, parking sensors, citations, transit vehicles, sales tax," says Jay Primus, the manager of SFpark. "And truly a case where technology is allowing us to be much smarter about how we manage parking."

Other cities following suit

So far about 25,000 people have downloaded the parking app. Other cities, including Los Angeles and Fort Worth, have also introduced smartphone parking apps.

Seattle is experimenting with demand-based parking prices. But San Francisco has the most comprehensive approach, says Donald Shoup, who teaches urban planning at UCLA.

"San Francisco is by far the most sophisticated and the highest-tech experiment with this, and I think if this works out in San Francisco — with their adjustable prices — that every city on earth with be copying it," he says.

But before that happens, people will be watching to see how much of a distraction the smartphone app is to drivers who are supposed to keep their eyes on the road. Martin confesses that problem is real.

"So here we are, I am trying to avoid looking at it but every time you're at a pause or a stop you're looking at this trying to find where the next parking space is," he says. "It's hard to not want to keep looking at it, and with some people it's a challenge, it's an ego challenge, and it's a game, you know."

City officials are trying to downplay that risk. They say they always encourage drivers to look at the app before they start driving.

Long-awaited Devon garage remains closed, despite political hoopla to the contrary

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:46:00 -0600

In the election rush last week, I fell behind on reading the free local, ethnic papers that I usually pick up every week from stores along Devon Avenue. I finally got around to picking them up on Thursday, and to my surprise, found that I had apparently missed a big story on Devon Avenue—perhaps the biggest it’s seen in years. “Alderman Stone opens major parking complex on Devon Avenue,” touts the India Tribune. Another local publication, hi India, plastered a photo on the cover of its Feb. 18^th issue of Stone cutting a red ribbon in front of the garage, flanked by the project’s developer, Mohammad Tariq Siddiqui.

To understand why this is such a big deal, you have to rewind several years. Devon Avenue shoppers used to have a choice of several city-owned, metered lots when they patronized businesses along the street. But by 2006, Chicago had sold those properties to private developers. This particular lot, at Rockwell and Devon, was among them. In 2005 Siddiqui was awarded a contract that came with millions of dollars in tax increment financing. His design for the six-story complex would include retail space on the ground floor, condos above, and more than 230 parking spots.

That was more than six years ago. In the meantime, Devon Avenue merchants have complained the parking situation has only worsened. They lost the city-owned lots, they’ve seen parking meter rates increase, they feel that ticket enforcement is more aggressive than elsewhere in the city, and they’ve watched the city restrict parking on more and more side streets to local residents only. Few merchants were happy to see the city sell the lot at Rockwell and Devon, but now they’re just impatient to have it finished. “Once they open, it will be no problem,” said one business owner, who, like others, believes easier parking can help redress some of the difficulties brought on by the economic downturn.

But here’s the thing: the day I saw the headlines announcing the garage’s opening, it was actually closed. In fact, the part of Rockwell Avenue that drivers have to turn onto to enter the complex was blocked off with a “Do Not Enter” sign. I went back a few days later to find that sign was gone, but I went inside the garage to take a gander, and the gate arms were up. There were a couple of cars in there, but construction materials still lay about. A bobcat machine blocked the exit. As I wandered out, I ran into Siddiqui, who confirmed that, despite the announcement to the contrary, the garage wasn’t actually open and it might not be for a couple of weeks. So what was that hoopla about, a week before the election? “It was just a ribbon-cutting,” said Siddiqui.

Greg Brewer has a different take. “They did the same thing four years ago,” said Brewer, who just came off a second unsuccessful bid to unseat 50^th Ward Ald. Bernard Stone. “They had the big groundbreaking about two weeks before election, and then it just sat there.” Brewer headed a lawsuit against Siddiqui in 2007, in which residents claimed the development violated local building covenants. The suit failed in court, and Stone blames it for delaying the project. Brewer dismisses that claim, saying that the group only sought an injunction for a couple of months.

Brewer isn’t the only one that thinks the ribbon-cutting was just a politically-motivated charade. A business owner on Devon, who asked to remain nameless for fear of reprisals by city inspectors, sounded jaded when he talked about the whole thing. “The alderman, he wanted to show it,” the business owner said. “Before the election, he wanted to show it.” Stone tallied 38 percent of last Tuesday’s vote, putting him in a runoff with challenger Debra Silverstein. Silverstein garnered 33 percent of the vote.

Stone and Siddiqui both deny shenanigans. “It has nothing to do with the election,” said Stone. “I didn't set the ribbon cutting, the owner set the thing.” Siddiqui says he set the time for the ribbon-cutting months ago, but that last month’s blizzard kept the project from completion. “The weather has created all kinds of time drama,” said Siddiqui. “This was planned because all the people that were willing to come (to the ribbon-cutting), they could come that day.” So… keep your eyes open? Parking may (or may not) soon come to Devon.

Illinois targets shoppers abusing accessible parking spots

Fri, 26 Nov 2010 17:34:00 -0600

Searching and circling for a parking spot this holiday season? If you're among the legions of drivers and shoppers desparate to find a place to park, beware: Illinois is cracking down on people who illegally park in accessible parking spaces.

Secretary of State Police were out on Friday giving tickets to holiday shoppers who shouldn’t be parking in spaces reserved for those with disabilities.

The police were combing the parking lots across the state. Locally, officers were at Woodfield, Oak Brook and Orland Park malls.

"Primarily this is part of our annual enforcement detail that we conduct especially around the holiday season to get the message across to the public that spaces are reserved for persons with disabilities," said Bill Bodgan, disability liaison for the Illinois Secretary of State. "They should be left open to those that truly need them."

But Bogdan says abuse escalates during the holiday season.

The fine for parking without an accessible placard or disability license can be up to $350.