I had to run an errand at City Hall (in Portland, OR for those who may be reading and unfamiliar with my location) today. Since it was raining and my errand involved carrying checks around, I decided to drive instead of bike. I'm pretty sure I've never had to park the car downtown without Andrea being there to deal with the pay parking, so I've never given it much thought, but the city is running quite the racket these days.
There are no longer individual parking meters at each spot that one pays into. Instead, there is one pay station that takes credit cards and change and it will print a sticker out that you stick in your car window that says what time the meter expires for you. This isn't unique to Portland by any means. I think most cities have made the change to this type of parking (I have an image of Paul Newman cutting down parking meters in every city running through my head).
Gone are the days of pulling up to a meter and finding there's still 20 minutes left on it. Instead, the city is making money on top of money since there's no way to use the time someone else paid for (unless you happen to be leaving just as someone pulls up behind you). Since most people overpay (I know I did. One never knows how long a trip to City Hall might take), there's a lot of doubling up on parking payment, which suits the city just fine.
I'm not actually upset about this. It's a perfectly legitimate way to make some money. People would overpay for parking regardless. It's just making sure everyone pays for parking instead of some getting a lucky spot. When you go downtown, you expect to pay. It's a pretty victimless way to get a little extra money. I don't know if that was part of the intention when they installed the new kiosks, but I kind of admire the move either way.
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