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Santa Monica is the largest city in the U.S. to convert to parking meters that reset to zero when a car leaves, the New York Times says in a story. Santa Monica officials insist in the story it's not about the money, but that somehow getting out of your car and discovering there's no free time will cause more parking spaces to become available. UCLA expert Donald Shoup calls them on that example of bureaucratic untruthiness, saying that unlike the new variable-rate meters going into Downtown Los Angeles, the Santa Monica meters really won't do anything to free up parking spaces. It's all about the money, he says — and he's an advocate for making drivers pay more for parking. "Anytime someone says something isn’t about money, it’s about money,” Shoup says.
Last week: Shoup was on KCRW's Which Way, LA? talking about the variable-rate parking experiment in Downtown LA.
Previously on LA Observed:
Santa Monica parking meters will really nickel and dime you now
LA Observed photo: Main Street in Santa Monica
