City hires consultant to address downtown parking complaints

The city commission dedicated to advising the council on parking resources announced Wednesday that a company has been selected to provide consult during the commission’s efforts to improve parking downtown.

The consultant is currently working with the city’s finance director to come up with a five-year deal. After the deal is finalized, the consultant’s name will be announced.

In recent years, Columbia has enlisted the help of a parking app, ParkMobile, to help drivers pay for parking and improve their experience downtown. Two-bay meters have also been introduced.

The commission compared the number of parking citations issued and the number of protests filed against those citations.

According to its presentation, the number of issued citations has decreased by about 15% from 2015 to 2017. The number of protests to citations, however, has increased over 35% in the same period. It’s possible that “the unfamiliarity with the app and two-bay meter heads has increased the number of protests,” according to the commssion.

Commission Chairman Mike McClung said it’s likely people are not totally familiar with the parking app or the two-bay meters, and the result is a citation that drivers don’t understand. He said educating drivers on what is available will be one of the many subjects that the consultants will address.

“If one person calls, there are at least 10 people that have had the same bad experience,” McClung said.

McClung and the commission members also discussed the perception of parking compared to the reality, and that concerns over lack of open spots may not be accurate.

“They’re not looking for a parking space. They’re looking for a convenient parking space,” said Mike Sokoff, a representative of the University of Missouri, said.