Parking Authority to sort through management offers

Group has received proposals from three national companies

The chairwoman of the Altoona Parking Authority is planning to dissect recent downtown parking management proposals from three national companies, so board members can make apples-to-apples comparisons before voting to hire one of the firms.

The proposals from Platinum Parking of Dallas in October and from SP Plus of Chicago and Premium Parking of New Orleans this week were presented in terms varied enough that a breakout spreadsheet will be needed to make a fair analysis of relative value, according to Sherri McGregor.

The decision to seek third-party management arose out of the 2021 death of Executive Director Patrick Miller, the impending retirement of office manager Vickie Chilcote, an increasing need for spaces due to business and housing development, the wish to head off a squeeze that could occur without incentives for people to park where they should and the hope that revenues can pay for maintenance of authority spaces, according to officials.

All three companies would charge a monthly management fee and use technological means for tracking parked vehicles, charging fees and tracking and sharing revenues with the authority. All three would create a downtown parking website, be willing to absorb the authority staff into their firms, and offer the option for the authority to either buy the needed technology or have those costs amortized through deductions from parking revenues. They would also offer monthly subscriptions, as well as on-the-spot payment options.

The authority will be looking to determine which of the three firms would provide the best service and the most agreeable payment structure, said Interim City Manager Joe Merrill.

The authority would like to maintain some free parking within whatever structure is chosen, McGregor had said previously.

But free parking isn't really free, said Mayor Matt Pacifico on Wednesday, referring to the ongoing problem of on-street spaces in front of businesses that depend on regular turnover being occupied for long periods by noncustomers, and other less-than-ideal aspects of current parking practices downtown.

Proper management can use price levels and time limits as incentives to keep such spaces in "churn," according to Pacifico and others.

Consistency will be important, as will visibility and clarity, so that workers, regular users of the downtown and transient visitors can easily know where they should park, according to McGregor and others.

The management companies are prepared to offer a variety of payment methods, including QR codes, text-to-pay, credit and debit cards -- and cash, although machines that accept cash are costly, according to Premium officials.

Many Altoona residents are still habituated to paying with cash, some board members told the Premium executives.

That sort of thing can change, one of the Premium executives said.

One South Jersey town that is a Premium client invested $170,000 in machines that accept cash, but those are mostly unused, making up just 13% of transactions, the executive said Wednesday.

Under the Premium regime, there would be no gates or barriers to hold up the free flow of traffic into or out of the parking garage or lots, according to the Wednesday presentation.

License plate numbers would provide all the necessary identification for making normal payments.

The firm would use the authority's access to vehicle owner identifications via plate numbers to go after violators who refuse to pay parking fines.

The authority would work with Premium on how lenient or draconian it would be with enforcement.

City Council has set aside $165,000 for the authority from its $39.6 million allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act, money the authority could use to purchase the needed technology upfront -- although confirmation is needed that such a purchase would be eligible under ARPA guidelines.

The idea of hiring an executive director and upgrading the management of parking in-house has not been ruled out, but the authority is leaning toward a third-party contract, McGregor said.