The Minneapolis area has removed all parking fees and has had a great increase in park usage.Read about it here.
Sorry, I don’t buy it. The parks department is subsidizing the people who drive to the parks. They claim it gives people more access. What is does is penalize the folks who ride bikes, walk, or take a bus. The costs for the park are borne by the taxpayers, which it another story for another time.
However it does seem that the maintenance of the parking facilities, the signage, and the traffic control should be paid by those who use those facilities, and not by everyone.
I also don’t really believe that seven percent of the attendees stayed away due to parking fees. Did anyone check other related things like rain on the weekends, special events in the parks, new facilities, or perhaps that major advertising campaign that was instituted just last year.
I don’t know — but this doesn’t change my credo — if you build it they will come — people are attracted to venues, shopping centers, and downtown areas not by the free parking but by what the area has to offer.
JVH
