> Why is the City of Minneapolis in the parking ramp business? It's a > source of revenue. According to the City of Minneapolis 2002 > calendar, six percent of the city's $953 million in revenue comes > from parking. (Those are 2001 budget numbers.) > > Todd Melby > Seward
There are many ramps in downtown that are privately owned. The Dayton's ramp is the one that everyone seems to know and point to as a successful private ramp. These ramps primarily focus on short-term parkers, paying relatively high rates for the convenience of parking close but only staying a while. The market niche that the City has (primarily) been in has been in providing ramps for commuters, i.e. people who work downtown. These ring the downtown rather than are in the core and are geared towards all day parking rather than the high turnover parking in the very core. Although the City does make a profit ($6.5 million in 2001 comes to mind, money that offsets money that would have otherwise been ...) the return on investment given the risk is simply not high enough to attract private investors. And parking ramps are very capital intensive investments and the City has access to tax-free lending that private enterprises simply don't. If the City didn't step in, there simply would be much less parking in the downtown for commuters and much less business because businesses would not locate there because of the difficulty in attracting employees. I expect that the previous statement will rankle transit advocates who will argue that providing parking just encourages people to drive more. But studies show that the average choice transit user (that's the 70% of total transit riders) does not ride every day - instead they ride an average of three days a week and drive the other two. The other two days? They drive because they have engagements after work or are running late or need their car during the day or many other reasons. To have transit riders, you have to also provide parking solutions. Transit and parking are not in opposition but must work together for solutions. Carol Becker Longfellow _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
