The last thing we need is to anger people supporting downtown businesses. I am supporting this position taken by the Main Street Area Association. See the email they sent to Council:
Dear Honorable Mayor, City Council, DDA members and City Administrator:
It has come to the attention of the Main Street Area Association membership that a proposal has been made to extend meter hours and enforcement downtown.
After discussing this issue at our last board meeting, we felt compelled to let you know how very concerned we are with this direction. Â
It’s our understanding that extending the hours and enforcement on the meters is supposed to encourage “turn over” and therefore “help” our customers.  There are several reasons this type of negative motivation is ultimately harmful to downtown as follows:
1.   If we’d like to get downtown employees off the street to park, we need to offer them better transportation options. Right now, late night mass transportation does not exist for downtown employees or visitors.  We’d like to see adequate mass transit in our city for all employees and visitors. This could be a great place to pilot a program specifically for this late night demographic. As a matter of fact, MSAA, AATA and the DDA are currently working on developing a plan to provide late night service for downtown. We are in the process of surveying employees to help define what options are best for late night service.
2.   Even though downtown employees use the meters, we have no data showing exactly how many meters they’re taking.  Furthermore, these employees support downtown businesses by shopping, eating and staying downtown for their entertainment. So basically, we’re punishing people who work downtown and support the businesses. It’s hard enough to get people to work downtown, let’s not make it harder.Â
3.   Visitors HATE to get tickets - that’s pretty simple - if we extend meter hours and enforcement more visitors will get tickets and therefore find it undesirable to come downtown.  People are so accustomed to meters running until 6pm that they will not notice hours have been extended until 9pm. As soon as the hours are changed, everyone will get a ticket.Â
4.   Businesses downtown are already suffering from lack of foot traffic and Michigan’s overall down economy. Creating negative barriers for visitors downtown only reinforce an unfriendly atmosphere.Â
5.   MSAA is willing to work with the city and DDA to come up with better solutions to issues facing downtown businesses and our employees. We feel strongly that continuing to use meter hours and enforcement as the first option on the table for raising funds for the city in the guise of “turn over” for customers is a shortsighted approach to a difficult problem.Â
6.   This is the same mentality as “turning tables” in a restaurant, if you make the customer feel rushed that’s the only thing they remember about their experience - and it’s negative.Â
7.     We assume that the intention of extended meter hours is not to make downtown more unfriendly, add insult to injury to many already struggling businesses and deter people from working downtown. However, that will definitely be the end result.
Please feel free to contact me if you would like to further discuss this issue. We appreciate your time and attention.
Edward A Shaffran, President
On behalf of MSAA board of directors:
Newcombe Clark, Vice President
Caroline Kaganov, Treasurer
Pam Smith, Secretary
Sue Burke
Jill Damon
Christopher DeRuyver
Scott Huckestein
Jeanette Kroth
Becky Maccardini
Gale Redding
Mary Stasiak
Event Coordinator
Ellie Serras
downtown - it’s an attitude
www.mainstreetannarbor.org
734-668-7112
3 users commented in " Don’t extend meter hours/ enforcement downtown "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackI’m all for adding late night transportation alternatives to downtown. The current AATA bus routes all stop way too early on weekends, and it’s just absurd that at the very time that the parking structures are full that it’s impossible to catch a bus downtown.
Even if only a few routes to Ypsi ran late (say the 4, 5, and 6) in the 5pm-midnight hours on weekends, I’ll bet those buses would be full - and that they would reduce the load on parking.
I too find it a bother that there is no convenient late night bus service in Ann Arbor. Missing a bus and waiting an hour is unacceptable, I’ll just drive. Since I work outside the city, the only time I can consider taking the bus is on evenings and weekends. The times of reduced service.
Yellow Cab is picking up the AATA slack–that’s the only option (and expensive) for people without cars, after the buses stop running.
Some people are motivated by the cost of parking. These visitors are not going to stay as long–or, possibly they might not even come out to Ann Arbor in the first place–if you eliminate their free evening street parking. (Others use the structures and simply don’t care.) Nobody wants to get up from their $100 dinner to feed the meter, folks.
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