Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Could They be More Confused?

There is a big problem at games at Fenway: not enough parking. Not nearly enough.

So, prices to park are really high.

What do the geniuses who "control" prices do? They establish parking lot rent controls, so the prices won't be so high!

Excerpt:

Mayor Thomas M. Menino is planning to crack down on sky high prices at private parking lots around Fenway Park, saying he will seek authority to cap fees and stop what he called the gouging.
''Someone came up to me and said, 'I just paid $100 to park,' " said Menino, who attended the Red Sox home opener Monday. ''I blew my top."
Menino said he will seek City Council approval for an ordinance to cap private parking fees, the exact rate to be determined after a meeting with the lot operators later this week.
''We are going to come up with a strategy to make sure this doesn't happen in the future," Menino said. ''My goal is to have control over the fees. This may be the market, but it's not right."
Game-day parking has long been a big-money issue near Fenway Park, where hand-lettered signs line the streets, and attendants herd vehicles into just about every available space, typically charging large fees. Gas stations, some retail centers, and a hotel dedicate spaces to fans for the day. During last fall's playoffs, Menino appealed to the operators of 23 city-licensed private lots, some of whom were charging $80 or more, asking them to voluntarily lower rates.


This means that there will be (a) more parking available, or (b) less parking available, or (c) prices have no impact on behavior, and greedy people suck. The mayor either believes (c) is correct, or he is an amazingly good liar. Me? I'm pretty sure the answer is (b), so more people will park illegally. Wait....that means the city gets more revenue from those pirates dressed as tow truck drivers: "Shiver me timbers! I be gonna tow yer caRRRRRRRRR!" Now I understand the mayor's game: he wants to be the only gouger in town!

ATSRTWT.

Nod to MWT, who should know better than to forward me stuff that pisses me off this much. I am going down the hall now to put him over the turnbuckle. I'm thinking of an "Airplane Spin Toss, Face First."

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

While I do not dispute that b is the correct answer to your rhetorical multiple choice query, I would add that for true Bostonians this is a non-issue since they surely take the T to Fenway on the green line and only park, if necessary, near one of numerous stops with ample parking; only tourists and people from Wellesley perhaps drive to a game which, to offer an analogy, is the equivalent of bringing your Ferrari (assume for the moment) off roading on cape cod when you have a Jeep that serves the purpose far better.

Anonymous said...

I forgot to add that it is also irrelevant because no one listens to mumbles Menino even if they *can* understand what it is that he said.

Anonymous said...

maybe they could have fans park in an overfunded government parking garage....

http://www.masspike.com/bigdig/index.html

TtwbC