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Parking problem downtown - too much of it? Not enough?


GRDadof3

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6 hours ago, tSlater said:

you'll see a lot more people using the 19 who live in Heritage Hill and along the Michigan St. Corridor once it connects to the West Side and the "Meijer" is open

And, just as important, when it is operating every 15 minutes.  The current schedule of the RAPID#19 is very limited.  Crosstown service is one of the most frequently mentioned route improvements in the ALIGN study.

7 hours ago, jonrapley said:

Unless Spectrum are looking to scale back on their commuter shuttles I can not see the number 19 being popular.

That is my belief; getting out of the shuttle business is one of the points of supporting the RAPID#19.

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18 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

That must be a small sampling because there's at least 10,000 people working downtown, from what I remember. Not including Spectrum Health. 

Not only small, but I'm guessing rather self-selected.  I know quite a few downtown workers, and they virtually all drive downtown, nearly none live that close to a bus stop, and the vast majority drive a single occupant vehicle--all of them, in fact.  Where is that data drawn from, whitemice?  

On 4/8/2018 at 8:27 AM, GRDadof3 said:

I disagree with your premise that the "crisis" will never be satisfied. It was fine 2 years ago, 3 years ago, 4 years ago, 5 years ago. That was back when the city and DDA knew that investments in infrastructure paid dividends in economic growth downtown. The economic multiplier of an employer downtown is huge compared to pretty much

I would beg to differ... somewhat.  A few years ago we still had a situation where there were only a few hundred monthly cards.  That left room for a single marge employer to come in, after which the supply would be wiped out.  That is exactly what happened.  The city engaged in a below-market rate lease with Spectrum, and wiped out what they had left with just one building.  I still wonder whether that was the shiny new progressive parking department at work trying to facilitate their mode-shifting social justice fantasies.  Probably not, but it still baffles me how they could have been so short-sighted.  But, here we are.  No monthly parking and still no workable plan in the works.  It was actually nearly two decades ago when the business community had a much stronger representation that things went in the right direction.  

There may yet be a solution to this:  Sell off the parking department lock, stock, and barrel, with a requirement that at least three separate parties own the pieces, none controlling more than 45% of the sold-off spaces in each of ramp, street, and surface lot parking.  

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9 hours ago, x99 said:

There may yet be a solution to this:  Sell off the parking department lock, stock, and barrel, with a requirement that at least three separate parties own the pieces, none controlling more than 45% of the sold-off spaces in each of ramp, street, and surface lot parking.  

Or perhaps just recognize that changing the Parking department into the "Mobility Department" was a bad idea to begin with. I can get having a mobility department, but not at the sacrifice of the parking department. Have both separated, not together.

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On 4/9/2018 at 7:36 PM, whitemice said:

There is current research to use church parking lots - which we are chuck-full off - as park-n-ride lots, as these lots are mostly empty during the week;  they would be for use by the churches on weekends.  There is obviously legalities to be worked out but that is one of the "creative" ideas everyone is always demanding.  There really is a crap-top of church parking in within the city.

Spectrum Health is a principle player in changing the current RAPID#19 into a frequent - are fare-less - cross-town connector.  That project also includes improvements to pedestrian infrastructure at the east end of the Michigan St corridor where Spectrum has its large park-n-ride lots.

Meijer already has park-n-ride partnerships with MDOT, at least at the Cascade Meijer. They should expand that and provide a fast shuttle service to downtown. 

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  • 2 months later...
37 minutes ago, localtalent said:

So MobileGR is getting rid of ParkMobile as their tech partner for parking meters of June 21 and their 'replacement' (MOTU) isn't even available yet.

I predict a cluster....

Is it https://passportinc.com/motufaq/

related to https://passportinc.com/ ?

White Labeled for GR as Motu?

Screen Shot 2018-06-19 at 11.19.06 AM.png

Edited by EastownLeo
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4 minutes ago, localtalent said:

So MobileGR is getting rid of ParkMobile as their tech partner for parking meters of June 21 and their 'replacement' (MOTU) isn't even available yet.

I predict a cluster....

Way to stay out in front of the change MobileGR #fail 

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28 minutes ago, Pattmost20 said:

Just downloaded Motu. Pretty easy to set up and seems to be pretty easy to use.

Agreed. I just downloaded it as well. Set up a profile in 30 seconds and the app seems easy to navigate. Impressed so far.

20 hours ago, elcelc said:

That's the one.  The app is listed in the store under Passport Parking or something similar, NOT Motu.  They've been swapping out signs over the past few weeks.

I typed Motu into the search bar in the App Store and found it immediately. 

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What is the benefit of doing the white boxed version of the Passport Parking app?  I would rather have one mobile app that could work in multiple cities.  From the initial blush, they look the same (except the logo, etc.).   I'm hoping that I can get the Passport Parking app to work and then can delete Motu Parking app.

Edited by Sparty97
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The app says you cannot extend a parking session (you're locked out for an hour from that space) but I just received an email from Mobile GR that says, under the "No need to rush" section: "Add time to your parking session directly from your phone." 

:huh:

 

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Just looking at Motu vs. Park Mobile.  Unless someone can point out how this is a better experience, it seems like this is a way to squeeze people for more $$ and provides another negative experience with parking in the city of Grand Rapids.  

You have to preselect a time period (1 hour, 2 hours, etc.) and there is no way to stop the session before the selected time period.  You are on the hook for that amount of time (even if you find out 5 minutes later that you aren't staying...).  At least with Park Mobile, you only paid for the time you were parked there and you didn't have to go through the process of extending.  

Which brings me to the other negative, if you think you are only going to be parked there for 30 minutes and forget to extend, you can get a ticket.  With Park Mobile, you just started and the time ran until you stopped it (no ticket).

Edited by Sparty97
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31 minutes ago, Sparty97 said:

Just looking at Motu vs. Park Mobile.  Unless someone can point out how this is a better experience, it seems like this is a way to squeeze people for more $$ and provides another negative experience with parking in the city of Grand Rapids.  

You have to preselect a time period (1 hour, 2 hours, etc.) and there is no way to stop the session before the selected time period.  You are on the hook for that amount of time (even if you find out 5 minutes later that you aren't staying...).  At least with Park Mobile, you only paid for the time you were parked there and you didn't have to go through the process of extending.  

Which brings me to the other negative, if you think you are only going to be parked there for 30 minutes and forget to extend, you can get a ticket.  With Park Mobile, you just started and the time ran until you stopped it (no ticket).

I wonder if those settings will be adjusted by MobileGR once more people see the disparities and come for them. The weird things is that I really thought Josh Naramore would direct that group into a more comprehensive and progressive department and it just seems clunkier than ever, making cash grabs whenever they can. 

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21 hours ago, thebeerqueer said:

I wonder if those settings will be adjusted by MobileGR once more people see the disparities and come for them. The weird things is that I really thought Josh Naramore would direct that group into a more comprehensive and progressive department and it just seems clunkier than ever, making cash grabs whenever they can. 

They really, really need a User Experience person either on staff or contracted. I know the city hired a new communications director but has anyone gotten any new form of communications from the city? Or a communications plan? 

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4 hours ago, localtalent said:

Terrible experience with this switch.

Canal St park spots have meter numbers that don’t exist in Motu. ParkMobile stickers are scraped off the meters, but no new Motu labels exist.

Just a complete disaster.

A totally unnecessary, self-inflicted cluster.

FREE PARKING!

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  • 2 weeks later...
19 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

Great job, GR. One step forward, two steps back.

I think the expansion is mainly for employee parking (?). I feel like it went before the city last year originally. 

In other parking news:

https://www.grbj.com/articles/91054-downtown-parking-shuffle-continues

Josh Naramore, director of Mobile GR, has repeatedly told the Business Journal the highest strain on downtown parking is for those looking to obtain a monthly permit. While it’s relatively easy for visitors to find evening and weekend parking in either public or private lots, employers looking to make the move downtown are struggling to find and pay for parking for their employees.

 

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4 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Josh Naramore, director of Mobile GR, has repeatedly told the Business Journal the highest strain on downtown parking is for those looking to obtain a monthly permit. While it’s relatively easy for visitors to find evening and weekend parking in either public or private lots, employers looking to make the move downtown are struggling to find and pay for parking for their employees.

In my experience I would agree with that. If I am willing to pay 3 bucks for evening parking I can always find a spot near where I am going, I only ever have trouble trying to find free parking.

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