The price to put your car in ‘park’
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When you’re driving in the parts of Pittsburgh where finding a parking space is about as likely as coming across a near-mint Shakespeare First Folio at the local thrift shop, you have those moments where you swear you would give just about anything to find a sliver of concrete to put your vehicle.
Starting next year, you might well have to give just about anything.
OK, that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But prices are due to go up in 2015, as per a vote Wednesday by Pittsburgh’s city council. In Downtown and Oakland, prices will increase by $1 an hour, and by an additional 50 cents in most other parts of the city, including Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and the South Side. Enforcement hours will also be extended to 10 p.m., something Mayor Bill Peduto opposed both as a councilman and, until recently, as mayor. But budget exigencies being what they are, Peduto acceded to council’s wish for more parking revenue. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, it will increase the city’s annual parking take by more than $4 million, from $20.2 million to $24.8 million.
No one should be deterred from taking advantage of any of Pittsburgh’s cultural or recreational opportunities by a slight increase in parking rates. And it’s not likely anyone would shelve plans to, say, attend a play at the Henry Heymann Theatre on the University of Pittsburgh campus, solely due to the prospect of having to shake loose a few more dollars from their wallet to park.
And it must also be said that, yes, it’s cheaper to park in Pittsburgh than it is in other major metropolitan areas. If the lower prices at the pump hold, a trip to Pittsburgh would still be cheaper than it has been of late, even with parking that is slightly more costly.
But where both city residents and visitors should be concerned is the looming prospect of “dynamic pricing” on parking. By the end of next year, the city could introduce a plan where parking rates will fluctuate based on demand. In San Francisco, for instance, rates can sometimes go up to $5.25 per hour.
Granted, Pittsburgh is not San Francisco. But it’s also not awash in parking spaces, as the lawn chairs being used to hold spots on many city streets attest to. If dynamic pricing happens, let’s hope rate caps are put in place. Otherwise, we might need to start hauling gold bullion with us rather than quarters.