Comments on: Euro-Style Parking Comes To Boise

By: dog

dog — Wed, 20 May 2009 22:38:24 +0000

Our water is owned by France. It makes sense to let them own our parking too. Since we can’t seem to do stuff right like run our own water company, why should we try to do parking right? Would it eliminate that nasty downtown parking ticket lady that drives around in the three wheeled (French?) car writing tickets? I’m for it if it makes her go away.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:14:47 +0000

Oh, and re “California and Florida are rime examples,” (er, “prime,”) I’m kinda surprised The Guardian thinks we should emulate those two fine examples of states.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:10:51 +0000

No matter what kind they use, they still serve two purposes: To make money for the city (which can charge you to park on streets you bought and paid for in the first place, even though Boise no longer owns the streets), and to keep people from wandering around town, shopping in the stores, eating in the restaurants, attending events, etc. Although you could do those things with the new meters, providing you can estimate accurately exactly how long you will be gone from your car.
If people can do that, though, I wonder how many thousands of dollars the city is going to lose by not having the hundreds of parking tickets to collect big fees on. Has anybody official estimated that in calculating the cost-benefit ratio?

By: sharon fisher

sharon fisher — Tue, 19 May 2009 02:50:43 +0000

In some cities, an unintended consequence is there’s noplace to chain bikes any more, because the meters are gone. In Oakland, they even kept the old meters, disabled, just for bikes.

By: bikeboy

bikeboy — Mon, 18 May 2009 22:00:17 +0000

Mr. Guardian… let me know when they put one of these contraptions out front of the Owyhee County Courthouse in Murphy, to replace the only parking meter in the whole county. (Then I’ll know they’re really catching on!)

By: James Bond

James Bond — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:46:04 +0000

They may be solar powerered, but doesn’t exchanging data with bank servers use generated electricty?

By: dog

dog — Mon, 18 May 2009 17:15:14 +0000

Hey , it’s French. We should call it a Feedom Meter because we are Idahoans and we hate French stuff.
It must be socialistic since the French do it. Just another government conspiricy to eliminate freedom and force us to like socialisim. I bet the parking spaces will be smaller for import cars too.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:04:10 +0000

I use these type sof parking meters all the time here in D.C. They are a very convenient and doesn’t allow for people ot come up with the excuse of the meter was broke or what have you. Also, I have found the best way of not paying for them is to ride my bike. No parking costs and there are places to lock it up all over as in Boise, and what a great way to keep the skies clean. Once I moved from Boise it made me made at myself for not realizing how close everything is there and how it woudl be so easy to ride a biek everywhere, to now I have to plan on an hour to hour and half commute to and from work.
I do miss my city of trees.

By: paul

paul — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:40:47 +0000

Orange County has a similar pay station at Salt Creek State Beach parking lot near the Ritz Carlton between Laguna Beach and Dana Point. They have a person full time checking the parking stubs on the dash of each car. No grace time is given and the ticket is around $60 if I remember correctly. The fee a few years back was $0.05/minute or $3/hour.

The old guy writing parking tickets generated a pile of cash for the county.

By: Mr. Watcher

Mr. Watcher — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:38:40 +0000

I live in Boise but not by choice. The area we live in was forced into the city against the wishes of the people who live in this area. We have sewage, police and a county fire station was only a mile away. Our taxes went up 30 percent and the city provided nothing in return. The city came to the table with zero to offer but higher property taxes, there was no quid pro quo of any kind.
The last thing folks who live in the area want to do is go downtown and pay parking meters to the same city that is cheating them up one side and down the other. The city can do as they wish with their parking meters all they want to. Its nothing but a waste of money because the coin meters are paid for and work just fine so why spend all the extra money. I have a hunch if a little footwork was done there’s a shady side to these new meters. Like election money coming in the back door. One would think the city would have other things to waste money on that could be helpful to the citizens. Just a thought.