New mobile app brings huge price increases for Century II parking lots | Opinion
There’s exciting news out of the Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center today.
Note that I didn’t say it was good news. The excitement factor is the same as the outrage factor in this case.
Starting next Monday, the company that City Hall contracted with to run the facility will raise the price of parking on the grounds by 300% — at the very least.
Some days, it will be a lot more than that, depending on what’s going on in Century II that day and how long you need to be there.
Talk about inflation.
In the past few days, city workers have removed all the meters in the parking lot, leaving behind the shafts. Somehow, that seems appropriate.
On Monday, employees of ASM Global, the private company that operates the city-owned facility, were out installing signs that invite patrons to scan a QR code to pay for their parking. There’s a number you can call to use your credit card instead.
I found out about this from an Orwellian press release from ASM that portrays this massive price hike as somehow being consumer-friendly.
According to the release, ASM is partnering with two other private firms: ParkMobile, which will collect the money through its app, and The Car Park, which controls about 10 other parking garages and lots downtown and will be in charge of enforcement.
The lots covered by the new parking system are the large lot just east of the Bob Brown Expo Hall and the Hyatt Regency Hotel, northwest of the corner of Main and Waterman; plus the small lot just north of it in front of what used to be the Central Library.
“By integrating ParkMobile’s digital parking payment system, our guests can now park at our events in a more seamless and efficient manner,” the press release quotes Century II General Manager Chris Whitney as saying. “Visitors will use ParkMobile for daily and event parking, creating a contactless parking experience.”
With all due respect, Chris, most Wichitans would take “cheap” over “contactless” seven days a week.
Also from the press release: “The use of ParkMobile’s contactless payment system will improve the overall guest experience by eliminating the previous need for patrons to feed the parking meter throughout their visit to Century II.”
That part is ridiculous.
The metered parking in the big lot was 25 cents for every two hours. For five quarters, or $1.25, you could park to the maximum time on the meter, which was 10 hours.
Four hours, to cover the time you’d need to attend a play or a concert, was 50 cents.
Now, the parking will be a flat-rate per day. Prices start at $5, no matter how long you stay. So for the average performance, you’re looking at paying 10 times as much for parking, minimum. And, on days there’s a popular event, the parking charge will be hiked to whatever they think the traffic will bear.
How that will “improve the overall guest experience” is unclear.
It’s also unclear how this all came down. The contract to operate Century II says the management company would “recommend strategies and relationships to solicit primary third-party vendor service programs such as parking, ticketing, etc.”
My read on that assumes the city government would make the final call.
I couldn’t reach the city manager. The mayor didn’t know about it, nor did the chairman of the city’s park board.
We can’t say we weren’t warned.
Save Century II, the group that opposed plans to demolish the Century II and library building for the Riverfront Legacy Master Plan, raised the alarm that privatization would lead to higher costs for customers when the City Council contracted for ASM management in September of 2021.
So it appears our choices are limited to three: Pay up, park someplace else and walk, or don’t go to events at Century II.
It’s a shame that it’s come to that. But that’s what we’ve got.
This story was originally published March 6, 2023 at 3:36 PM.
