I paint with a very broad brush and sometimes I overreach. Brandy in the city of Manchester NH has taken umbrage with my comment that there is nothing that the private sector can’t do better than the government, except perhaps fight a war. I don’t want her comments to be lost, so I repeat them here:
OK, I take exception to the blanket accusation that government doesn’t have their priorities straight. You’re probably right when it comes to a lot of governmental agencies, but not all by any means. I represent one of those “government” agencies and Manchester as well as many other municipalities have taken great strides to increase efficiency. We’ve introduced online payments (we eat the processing fees because we’re not stupid and we know increased online payments mean less face-to-face time and ergo less expense), automated garage payments, multi-space meters, In Vehicle parking meters, on-street performance-based pricing strategies, etc. And, other cities in New Hampshire are implementing the same programs in increasing numbers.
These programs HAVE reduced related expenses and (gasp!) we’re happy about it.
Your comments imply that governmental agencies don’t have any common sense and are not learning the science of parking. Take a look at the vast increase in implementation and introduction of new technology and processes in the last 5 years. I would argue that municipalities are a VERY large driver of this change in our industry. Anyone that thinks this is driven entirely by private industry is missing the boat.
There are exceptions to every rule and a smaller city like Manchester, NH, might be that exception. They are obviously driven by leaders that care about their customers and want to do a good job in dealing with the public. Good for them and congratulations. You have overcome the need for ‘command and control’ and have built a program that works and works well in your community. I salute you.
However that doesn’t really change what I think in general. For every Manchester there are 100 government entities around the world that simply don’t get it. As a buddy of mine at an independent think take told me the other day when discussing this issue: It certainly is a target rich environment.
Look at the failures: Education, street maintenance, crime, central city blight, the postal service, actually collecting parking fines and fees, the DMV, the EPA, the Agriculture department, … the list is endless. And for every city that “works” there are many many more that don’t.
I can take exception to Brandy’s comment about cities driving change in parking. The use of P and D and Pay by Space has been routine in Europe for decades. Pay on foot in garages the same. It has only been in the past dozen years that cities have looked to using this technology herein the US. Bringing your processing into the current century may be a wonderful feat, but I suggest that I could buy things on Ebay and Amazon long before I could pay my parking ticket at my desk. Financial pressures in most cities have forced them to begin looking at cost savings, or even selling their assets. The private sector usually doesn’t wait until it’s bankrupt until it begins to find innovation. Oh, and I would say that virtually all the tools Brandy uses in making life better for those in New Hampshire came from private industry. The government culture simply doesn’t lend itself to invention and production.
And one more thing. The marketing departments of a baker’s dozen companies have been knocking on the doors of city parking departments for years. It’s a long slog to get them to even look at innovation, halfway install a new technology. These road warriors have taken technology and cajoled, begged, threatened, and yes even bribed local officials to listen and then to begin to use the technology available. Seldom has change come from within. If that happened in the Granite State so much the better.
I’ll stop before I dig my hole any deeper. Thanks Brandy for your well thought out and cogent comments.
JVH
4 Responses
While I applaud the City of Manchester for their initiatives, it needs to be stated that many of the changes instituted were done so based on the results of parking studies conducted by consultants from the private sector. That’s not meant as a criticism, rather it is a compliment in that they had the forsight to be proactive and engage professionals to come in a help guide them. This is an example of the private and public sectors working together, which is really the best way to go. Sometimes it ends up where the municipal entity simply doesn’t have the capabilitites to put recommended operational improvements into a working model, and sometimes they do. It appears as if Manchester had those capabilities and has taken advantage of them.
OK, last comment from me. JVH is right – the technologies and processes do come from the private sector. I would expect that, because I can’t think of a single municipality that has an R&D department. And yes, the creation of a parking department in Manchester was the result of a parking study done by the private sector because the city council recognized there was a big problem and didn’t know what to do about it, so they turned to a consultant.
Yes, it is also true that municipalities are not exactly “early adopters” and vendors have had to push for change for a long time. But municipalities are finally getting it and that is why you see such a large increase in technology adoption these days in the United States. Because of that adoption rate, more companies are developing more technology, new companies are entering the market and new technology abounds. So kudos to the private sector for their success in finally getting through to a growing number of municipalities and here’s to continued change in our industry!
On the other side of the coin, I came from a private sector company precisely because I wasn’t allowed to do anything creative or implement new technologies and processes. I had to tow the corporate line, which didn’t allow for any of that stuff. So when I got to Manchester, there were recommendations, political will for change and basically carte blanche to do whatever I could to make things better. There is a generation of parking managers that have been in the business for years but have been in junior positions without the authority to make or influence decisions. Now we are starting to rise through the ranks into decision making positions and can increase the rate of adoption. We are in both the private AND public sectors and I for one am very happy about the direction the parking industry in the US is going.
Brandy
Brandy: When did the company you worked for in the private sector go out of business…JVH
JVH:
They’re still going strong. I suppose they’re probably somewhat irked with me for my comments. Oops.
Brandy