After a veritable tidal wave of complaints about the user-unfriendly nature of a confusing parking lot payment system installed at the city’s beloved West Side Market last June, the nonprofit board running the market says it’s come up with a fix to simplify the system.
But does it really simplify things?
The new system — which will add a credit-card kiosk to the smartphone kiosk that flummoxed many parkers, cleveland.com’s Paris Wolfe reports — still requires shoppers to pay on arrival and estimate the amount of time they’ll be parked there. (If shoppers overstay and have used a QR code to pay, they should get a text alerting them to add money, Wolfe noted.) The changed system also provides additional free parking time on Monday and Wednesday mornings until 10 a.m.
Flunking the system — as a few exasperated now-former market shoppers noted in letters to the editor — leads to a mailed $30 bill for “nonpayment,” including to those who thought they’d paid. And why the market chose to go with a different mobile phone payment system than the ParkMobile app now used throughout Cleveland is also a mystery.
The new credit-card kiosk should be installed between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Wolfe reports.
So, is this “fix” sufficient, or should a different approach be examined? Our Editorial Board Roundtable offers its thoughts.
Leila Atassi, manager public interest and advocacy:
The fix sounds adequate, but only if patrons can remotely add more time to their parking payment. Anything less amounts to the same old guessing game that’s driven some market-goers away. Why not prioritize customer convenience with a system that matches what’s already used citywide? If the goal is to make West Side Market parking easy, this update must go beyond just adding a credit-card kiosk.
Ted Diadiun, columnist:
I’m old enough to savor the days – not that long ago, really – when parking at the West Side Market was free. I’m also old enough that I need to find some young person to coach me through the parking payment process before Browns games. I yearn for the time when I could pull into a lot, hand the attendant some money, and be on my way.
Thomas Suddes, editorial writer:
Any food merchant or venue, from Walmart on down, knows that, along with quality, price, selection and courtesy, shoppers value convenience and ease of access. The West Side Market’s parking setup apparently vexes patrons and visitors. And the proposed remedies sound makeshift. But here’s the really foundational question: Why does the market charge patrons for parking in the first place? Greater Cleveland’s grocery chains don’t.
Lisa Garvin, editorial board member:
The West Side Market’s headlong rush into the digital era was bound to exclude many shoppers and annoy others long familiar with the pay-as-you-leave gated system. Little was done to prepare motorists or seek public input on a significant operational change. At least they responded quickly to feedback, but under this system, you still have to pay first and provide a license plate number, which seems backward and intrusive.
Victor Ruiz, editorial board member:
I do not understand why the West Side Market isn’t using the ParkMobile system that has become the standard throughout the city. It is easy to use and ubiquitous. The current system is so cumbersome that I avoid the Market parking as much as I can. The rest of the city has figured it out; not sure why those responsible for the Market parking are having such a hard time.
Elizabeth Sullivan, opinion director:
Change is hard, albeit sometimes necessary, which is why a nonprofit is now running the Cleveland-owned West Side Market and overseeing its parking lot. But a system that automatically charges parking patrons a $30 nonpayment penalty if they don’t successfully navigate the system — without clear posted explanations that will happen and a clear message to those trying but failing to pay electronically that the payment didn’t go through — is a demonstrably unsuccessful system. Providing an easier process for patrons to challenge the parking penalty is a start, but why the Market opted for a different mobile payment system than that already being used by Cleveland is difficult to fathom.
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