University of Idaho Parking and Transportation Services has raised the daytime hourly rate for parking in seven metered lots on-campus, according to Shawna Betlin, PTS information specialist.
She said PTS has been monitoring the behavior of metered parking to help improve the availability of short-term parking. The observations from the fall semester concluded that it was necessary to raise the price in some lots by 25 cents.
“We are trying to make it so that people actually have a place to park when they need to in those certain areas, so if someone were to come there should be at least a few open spaces,” she said.
PTS installed new electronic smart meters in August after the old meters became outdated and worn-out. PTS also received an increase in complaints about the old meters, said Stuart Robb, parking services supervisor.
There has been 60 percent credit card use in the new meters, versus a 40 percent coin use, Robb said. This is compared to the old meters, which only accepted coins. In the last month, there have been about 6,400 transactions through the smart meters.
“This goes to show they are really getting used a lot and a lot of people like the flexibility of using the credit cards,” he said.
The smart meters also make changing the prices for certain areas much easier because it is controlled through an office computer system instead of individually changing each meter, Bertlin said.
“Because of that new technology we are able to better control those prices and time limits,” she said.
Bertlin said PTS is experimenting with how long people are allowed to park at the meters, the price per hour and to see if there can be more availability in high usage areas. In areas that have a lower cap on how long people are allowed to park, PTS will try to get cars to change over more quickly.
The times and prices are subject to change, Bertlin said. PTS will look at the reports from the meters to see if certain areas are used more than others and observe how the price increase has affected the number of people who park in metered parking. If the number is negative, the price will be reduced.
“As long as people are moving, there is always the potential for someone to come and park there, for an open spot to be available,” she said.
Pay to Park lots will also see a small price increase due to high utilization, Robb said.
“We want to make sure there is availability no matter student, staff or faculty just needing to park for a quick second to run errands on campus or whatever they need to do,” Bertlin said.
Emily Aizawa can be reached at [email protected]