Parking is a mess. Local neighbors are trying to pass legislation that’s only going to make things worse.

I have a solution. I have a way to solve our parking problem and create revenue that can be used to help students.

If residents are given half of every street surrounding the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee as proposed by the Residential Preferred Parking legislation, parking congestion and traffic will only worsen.

Imagine one side of every street reserved for residents and the other side, the student side, even more congested than before. But what’s in it for the neighbors?

If the RPP is approved, neighbors are guaranteed to see increased congestion, decreased safety and decreased property values.

I propose that we begin thinking of our off-campus parking problem as what economist define as a common pool problem. We charge people for their congesting activity and for not choosing transportation alternatives. We take those monies and invest them into non-car transportation such as buses.

I propose that we create an off-campus parking district, within which market-driven prices will be charged for curbside spaces to encourage efficient use, generate revenue to fund better bus service as an alternative to cars and even expand BOSS hours.

Students are already paying for parking off-campus. They see it as a roll of the dice. If they get back to their car in time to rub off a chalk mark, it’s free. If they don’t, it’s a $30 fine.

Instead, we should use off-campus the in-car meter solution used on-campus for faculty and staff. Cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Aspen, Colo., use in-car parking meters and have seen dramatic results, including decreased congestion, decreased traffic and lower levels of emissions.

In-car parking meters will charge students for only the time they need. Students would pick up an in-car meter from the Parking and Transit Office at the beginning of the semester. They would charge a pre-paid parking card at any of the parking kiosks scattered across campus.

Upon arriving to a parking space, the student selects the correct parking zone on their meter, swipes their card through the device and begins paying for parking. Upon arriving back to their car, the student simply swipes their card again and the correct amount of time is taken from their account.

I would charge different price levels depending on the time of the day and the distance parked from campus. I would be able to adjust prices according to demand to create vacant spaces on every street surrounding campus.

If this idea interests you, if you are ready to actually solve this problem instead of complain about it, please feel free to contact me. I spent the entirety of last summer conducting an independent parking study with the UWM Department of Economics. The study has ended, but I am still willing to proceed if others will support this plan.

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