Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Fuzzy Parking Math

After driving around downtown for 30+ minutes yesterday looking for a place to park, I finally caved in pulled into a blue-P-signed garage. I knew it would be costly, as blue usually means cha-ching (for someone other than me).

When I returned to the garage, a little more than two hours had passed. The chart said I would be paying between $22 and $34; the cashier asked for $34. Now, that's nuts in and of itself. However, the sign explaining the parking validation rates made even less sense.

If you have your parking validated with a $10 purchase, you pay only $12 total for pretty much as long as you want. Meaning that if I had actually spent ten bucks at an approved vendor, I would have saved twelve. Spend money to save money? What a shady incentive program!

Why not just charge everyone $22 after 2+ hours and forgo the validation process all together?

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