In fact, they are here, stored in some DPW garage awaiting placement. The kiosks will soon take the place of parking meters to collect parking fees on Warren Street and in municipal parking lots.
A couple of weeks ago, Councilmember Jennifer Belton (Fourth Ward), who now chairs the ad hoc Parking Committee tasked with implementing the recommendations made in the parking study done back in 2022, presented the Parking Plan to be implemented this spring. The plan, which involves paid parking the entire length of Warren Street, can be found here.
In conjunction with the rollout of the Parking Plan, the Parking Committee is seeking input from the community on a Parking Survey. That survey can to found here.
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Input suggestion: Do not trust the kiosk technology, you will regret it. TOO MANY THINGS CAN GO WRONG AND WILL GO WRONG. Keep it simple and funky. Fixing a parking meter is easy and cheap.
ReplyDeleteReplacing them is easy and cheap, too. Kioskss are for big cities, not Hudson.
Stick to quarters and stop obsessing about squeezing every last dollar out of each parking space with your apps and demand pricing, which is exactly what THEY convinced Jen Belton the city needs to do. Find revenue streams elsewhere, like forcing owners of abandoned properties to pay the thousand dollars a year they are SUPPOSED TO BE PAYING BUT CODE ENFORCEMENT DOESN'T SEEM TO CARE ABOUT. How much have we lost out on that inaction? Why is there never any discussion about this?
If we listen to the kiosk technology companies selling us their planned obsolescent ugly and awkward technology relying on electricity and more paper, we will regret it and it will all get thrown out some day. FAIL! WASTE OF MONEY! You watch, this will be a huge failure sooner than later and Belton and Depietro won't be around to take the blame
Hold on to those meters you are removing, we will need them again someday.
What is the point of a parking survey at this point in the process?
ReplyDeleteThe Committee has not been responsive to citizen's concerns.
Like most surveys, the point is to create the illusion that there is public support for something they already decided to implement.
DeleteSlow Art has a point. They basically tossed out the public survey for the upcoming comprehensive plan because it was mainly answered by rich white women.
DeleteI've had a business on the 100 block of Warren since 2006. It has always been a quiet, mixed use, primarily residential block with a few low impact business. In my opinion, the implementation of paid parking on the block will have a negative impact on the businesses that already operate in a low traffic neighborhood and upon the residents.
ReplyDeleteFactoring in the costs of the kiosks and the creation and maintenance of a new department, a Parking Bureau, with it's employees and benefits, how much profit will be made on the parking fees? The city seems to keep adding more paid positions, more departments and creating more programs that cost taxpayers money without consideration of the impact on residents and local businesses. Perhaps it's time, rather than thinking of ways to collect more revenue from fees imposed on residents, to consider reducing expenses by eliminating, rather than adding new programs and fees.
Let’s all not be reflexively negative about everything the council does. I know it can be hard :) This is a good thing. We need revenue that’s not just property tax and this will mostly be paid by nonresidents. We underprice and under utilize parking. Every street zoned as central commercial should be metered.
ReplyDeleteIt’s also good for businesses. Metered parking creates availability and turnover. Every paid parking consultant will tell you that. I’ve repeatedly seen the owners of 225 Bar complain that all the parking on their block is taken up by people using it as long term car storage. They want their customers to be able to find a space.
Parking is going to get more and more scarce in this city and we need to get creative. We need to make it easier for people to fix their busted old garages on the alleys and we also need to consider… say it with me class: resident parking permits.
Good job Jen Belton. Keep it up and ignore the nonresident weekenders who want to cheaply store their cars in the Amtrak lot, and ignore the Unibomber style luddites that have nostalgia for coin operated meters.
I'm all for making money off the visitors, but it is a bit of an inconvenience for anyone dropping off or picking up something in a car. I suppose the Kiosk would be less of an eyesore than meters. A solution would be to offer local parking decals for the residents and businesses on the block. For anyone that lives on the block and has to park their car on the street it just doesn't seem right to expect them to both move their car to opposite sides and buy parking vouchers from a Kiosk every day. It's not like there are a lot of available parking spots on Union and Columbia Street.
DeleteWhere do the employees of 225 Bar park? Perchance on Warren Street?
DeleteDid you know that before installing the kiosks on sidewalks that DPW has to reach out to property owners to see if they have radiant heating under their sidewalks where kiosks are planned? That effort, as I understand it, is going to be accomplished by mailing letters to owners and hopefully getting a response.
ReplyDeleteDPW also needs to provide subterranean electric lines to all kiosks because the solar panels on the diosks cannot be relied on at all times. Belton said that Perry said he did not want to include National Grid in dealing with this. Don't worry, though, Jen and Rob are on it! They're both beyond qualified and working like a well-oiled machine, no doubt!
This is exciting news. We now have a solid parking plan for Hudson. One that helps both visitors find spots and residents park near home, while bringing in more money for the city. Thank you for the practical solutions and thoughtful work, Jen.
ReplyDeleteHow does charging residents $.50 per hour to park where they now park for free help them park near their home? Makes no sense, but as long as we are picking the pockets of residents, why not have a 2 hour parking limit in the entire city, then sell decals to residents so they can park on the street? They could charge $50 a month for every car.
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