I have a monthly pass to park at the Vistula garage, near The Blade, but on nice days when I think I might want to drive somewhere during my hour lunch break, I'll often check for an open spot at one of the parking meters closer to the office, just to save the few minutes' walk to the garage, when I arrive downtown at about 10 a.m. Quite often a spot is open, and even better, there's usually time
left on the meter. What amazes me is how much time is left on the meter.
Maybe once every other week, there is well over an hour worth of parking time left, which for the parking authority is pure bonus cash. I understand why some folks headed for downtown meetings or court appearances pay more into the meters than they end up using -- and I thank you very much for that time when I show up and vulture the leftovers. But here's a friendly Road Warrior reminder: parking in downtown Toledo remains free between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., as well as the other 15 hours of the day not covered by the signs and all day on weekends and holidays. That means that if you park at a downtown meter at 9:25 a.m., putting $2 in the meter gives you absolutely no more benefit than if you put in $1.50, which buys you the 90 minutes (plus the five-minute grace period) you need to get to 11 a.m. The last 50 cents is just gravy for the parking authority and, while I have nothing against them, don't you really have a better use for that money?
It should go without saying that there's no need to feed the meter during the lunch break, but I occasionally see people paying anyway. Often, their cars have out-of-town plates, so I imagine they're just unfamiliar with Toledo's lunchtime freebie, even though it is stated on the meters themselves as well as the signs. I also get why someone arriving downtown at, say, 1:45 p.m. would pay the meter then, even though pay time doesn't start again until 2: it might not be possible to be there right at 2 when the meters go live again.
The parking authority officially states that the addition of a smart-phone payment option for the meters will be revenue neutral, but I hope they'll be tracking that to see how it actually works out. I suspect the net effect will be a revenue loss, because fewer people will get those $10 overtime-parking tickets once they've extended their time electronically. A 35-cent fee is certainly better than getting stuck for a tenner, isn't it? On the other hand, smart-phone parking will increase the revenue from parking vultures like me, because unused time paid for by smart-phone customers won't appear on the meters like it does if payment was from coins, credit cards, or "smart keys". This does lead me to wonder if the smart-phone system will allow customers to overpay (past 11 or 5) the way some do with coins.