Parking Modernization Plan For Cincinnati

The City Manager is proposing a public-public partnership between the City and the Port Authority for the lease & modernization of the City of Cincinnati's parking system.

Key Players

• A public-public partnership between the City and the Port Authority, so the parking system remains in the public realm.
• On-street parking will be operated by a contractor - in this case, Xerox, who operates 30 parking systems across the country.
• Off-street facilities will be operated by a contractor, Denison Parking.

Local Control

• The City has spelled out all rates, hours and enforcement. This is not up to the operator.

Rates

• New technology must be installed before any rates are incrementally increased.
• Downtown meter rates stay at $2/hour initially. The rates will increase by 25¢ approximately every 3 years.
• Neighborhood meter rates increase to 75¢/hour once meters are upgraded with new technology. After that, rates would only go up by 25¢-increments. Based on the agreement, it would take about 6 years for those 25¢ increases to occur.
• Rates are capped.

Hours

• Downtown meters are in effect 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Neighborhood meters are in effect 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
• "First 10 minutes free" remains at downtown meters where it supports business growth.
• Holidays and Sundays remain free at meters.

Enforcement

• Operator can only boot cars in cases of extreme non-compliance (at least 3 unpaid tickets).
  • Booting technology would allow car to be freed after fines are paid in full (could be on the spot).

Not The Chicago Deal

The City of Cincinnati Administration has studied Chicago thoroughly to avoid the costly mistakes they made:

	CINCINNATI	CHICAGO
Control	Port Authority	Private Infrastructure Firm
System Returned to City	30 years (meters) 50 years (garages)	75 years (meters) 99 years (garages)
Proceeds	Upfront Payment Annual Installment Payments	Upfront Payment
Rate Control	Public	Private
Experienced Operations & System Modernization	Yes	Yes, but no on-street experience
Hours of Operation	8 a.m. - 9 p.m. (CBD) 7 a.m. - 9 p.m. (Neighborhoods)	Up to 24 hours a day

 

Better Convenience For You

Proposed upgrades to Cincinnati's parking system would:

• Provide information about rates and hours, events, and closures to motorists online, via cell phone, or social media
• Provide wayfinding apps to customers to help them find available spaces
• Use easy-to-understand messaging
• Hours of operation programmed so customers do not mistakenly pay a meter
• Accept coins, credit and debit cards, and phone payments
• Alert customers via text when their phone payment is about to expire