After Madison residents, business representatives and commuters voiced their concerns Tuesday night, the Transit and Parking Commission approved an increase in parking rates throughout downtown.
The standard three-year increase is a result of the city’s need to maintain adequate reserves for parking facility replacements as well as the requirement to repair, preserve and replace on-street meters, according to a news release from the commission.
Bill Knobeloch, parking operations manager and member of the parking division staff, said the most popular facilities such as the Government East parking lot would see the highest increase, while those structures getting the least amount of use like the Overture Center lot would see little to no increase.
Knobeloch said the “big-ticket” items that would most likely use the revenue from the increased rates would be the replacement of the Government East lot by 2014 and the State Street Capitol lot and the Lake Street Campus ramp further in the future.
“(Downtown) structures have an average age of 39 years and an average life expectancy of 50 years,” Knobeloch said. “That really is the biggest challenge to this committee. What do you do when these old structures need to be replaced?”
Knobeloch added it is crucial parkers realize they all share the burden of the price inflation, rather than force those solely parking in the particular structure being replaced to bear the increase.
However, Oyounee Dharamsey, a Fitchburg resident representing her husband and his friend who carpool downtown daily, said penalizing users of one ramp such as Government East with much higher rates than those that are underutilized is not “sharing the burden.”
“I do think [the increases] should be spread across the board,” Dharamsey said. “I think it is very unreasonable to expect them to come up with such a large increase when other ramps are not facing that.”
Looking closer to campus, the State Street-Capitol ramp prices will increase from $113 to $136 for monthly leases, while the hourly rates will increase from 85 cents to $1. The State Street-Campus facility will increase from $80 to $101 for monthly leases and the hourly rates will increase from $1.10 to $1.25.
Additionally, special event parking will increase from $4 to $5 per event.
Diane Doughman, Mimosa Books and Gifts owner, urged the commission to think twice about the increases.
“Businesses are struggling right now; it’s tough,” Doughman said. “But I can see the spending trends of our customers changing, so anything that would raise their costs to come downtown is going to be a further deterrent.”
Monona Terrace Director Jim Hess said their facility is in support of the rate increases and the necessary replacement of the Government East lot.
“It’s fast approaching the end of its useful life,” Hess said.
According to Knobeloch, the increases will generate an additional $1.2 million for the improvements and replacements of parking facilities and meters.
While the City Council has the authority to review the commission’s approval, the increases are set to take effect this coming June, according to Knobeloch.
