I have heard rumors that some consultants and cities are considering a Shoupista approach to dynamic pricing too complex for the average city to tackle, and too difficult to communicate to the motorist.
Consider the problem. On street pricing changes depending on usage. The goal is to keep one space open per block face to stop cruising. If more than one space is open, lower pricing, if less, raise prices. Let the price control usage based on demand.
Let’s say that you discover that due to market factors (a new blockbuster movie, closure of a trendy café, construction in the area, time of day, day of week, etc) prices appear to need to be changed rapidly and often to keep demand where you want it.
Picture the poor parking administrator in a city attempting to move rates and let people know what the new rates are. Not everyone has a smart phone and fewer would use them to determine parking pricing. If prices change, how do you communicate it so that the new prices actually affect demand? If a person is used to paying $1 an hour and you hike it to $2, he may still park there assuming that the price is $1 and then get a surprise when he approaches the revenue equipment. Suddenly you have an upset customer, and the program begins to fall apart.
If you move to annual or quarterly changes, you lose the impact of demand pricing. It has to be dynamic enough to work, but not so flexible that the drivers begin to revolt. What is needed is a “happy medium” dynamic enough to actually affect usage, but not so many changes that it’s too complex.
Consider this – base your rate change dates on calendar events that will affect demand. (Christmas season, heavy snowfalls, summer sales, Labor day, etc). Rates could be set within 60 day periods. Within these periods, rates could change based on location, time of day and day of week. Promote parking information web sites, kiosks, and push text messages to folks who care. Remember, you are probably not going to have enough information to hone pricing down to the minute, space, or penny. The goal is to get it close.
I can still see pricing changing based on time of day, day of week and location. In a block that had sidewalk cafes, it could be $1 before 6, $5 six to 10, and free after 10. The next block could be $5 til six, and free after. Those prices could double on Friday and Saturdays. That pricing structure could remain in effect for the summer, but change when the weather turned cold. You get the idea.
There are companies that specialize in signage that communicate complex information in a simple manner. Spend the money to make it happen.
There is no way that every parker is going to be fully knowledgeable of the price of each on street space. However repeat drivers will quickly learn where it costs more to park, and where less. The idea is to get people to make a parking decision quickly, rather than driving round and round. You want them to move to off street lots if they don’t want to pay the convenient, but high, on street prices.
If you could get half the people who are cruising for parking to park quickly, that could be as much as 20%. Take a fifth of the cars off city streets at any one time. That is a win.
This needs a lot of thought. But don’t be afraid to give it a shot.
JVH
One Response
What about the drivers of delivery, passenger vehicles, taxis and limos that sit in metered spaces every day? What about disabled permits, official business placards and exempt vehicles like fire, police and emergency services? In a typical downtown, the fancy sensors will be lighting up all across grid with “space occupied – unpaid” messages with these vehicles in the mix. Will the rates be adjusted based on availability, payment or a combination of both? It’s inherently unfair to raise the rate for a paying customer when there are spaces taken up on the same block by non-paying vehicles. If you’re going to dispatch enforcement for “space occupied – unpaid” situations you will have your enforcement staff chasing their own tails and eventually they will disregard the dispatch messages. As for the “price messaging” aspect, I seem to recall that there have been lawsuits filed for deceptive practices when the rates on some single space meters were twenty-five cents for seven and one half minutes but the displays were incapable of displaying seconds. Depending on the manufacturer they either displayed a 7 or an 8. Those who received a 7 message after payment felt they were being ripped off for thirty seconds of time. There’s always a lawyer or elected official looking to get some face time with the press.
As for dynamic signs on each block displaying the rate in real time, it will be fun to watch cars zigzag from one side of the street to the other in order to try and get the cheaper space. Don’t think it will happen?