Pay Parking at the Tram?

[Perry]

That is too funny on many levels. I really don't know what to say, except that one statement really stood out:

The Tram is a for profit business and they have new customers now.

[Screerider]

Parking fees should pay for the parking lot, tram tickets for the tram. Makes sense to me. If I have 5 people in the car, we pay once, not 5 times.
While I would rather pay them nothing, many of my customers feel the same way and I'm not even Asian.

[Wildhorse]

I think that charging for parking is bad business in this case. It is better to provide safe and convenient parking for customers than to charge a fee. It would be hard to imagine a business like REI charging for parking.

The tram operators enjoy a monopoly, and monopolies are notoriously obnoxious towards and exploitive of their customers. In a meeting about a business decision that would adversely affect the customers of one of my monopoly clients, an executive quipped, "What's the point of being a monopoly if you can't screw your customers?" All the other executives in the room chuckled nervously. They knew it was true, but it made them uncomfortable to confront the truth.

I think that charging a parking fee reflects an arrogant and bureaucratic management at the tram.

There is a surliness to the management and customer relations at the tram. I was once falsely accused of trying to use an expired pass to board the tram at Mountain Station. I had just purchased the pass about a week before and it had almost a year to go on it. After being treated like a miscreant for a few minutes, the tram guard, a thug really, who created an embarrassing and shameful spectacle in front of many other people, realized that he had made a mistake. No apology came. I think the tram operator has the demeanor of a bully.

[Screerider]

Walking is always an option.

[myotherboots]

I had a problem this weekend with the tram parking "police". Lots of new faces up there.

I had arranged a ride to pick me up after doing Skyline and he was completely hassled at the lower lots. He finally was allowed to pass, but was told to come back down immediately and park if I was not there. So, I guess on weekends I will have any pickups from the lower lots and just take shuttle down to those lots. Or, I could walk...

[Hikin_Jim]

What's up with that?

I wonder if there's new management or something.

HJ

[Ardiner]

I think that charging a parking fee reflects an arrogant and bureaucratic management at the tram.

I am guessing that the recent work done during the shutdown in anticipation of their Anniversary coupled with the fire causing the tram to be shutdown resulted in an unexpected revenue short-fall and that they have decided they need additional revenue sources. Parking seems like an easy way to tack on a fee without impacting the tram pricing. Most tourists will likely pay it without a second thought as they won't know it is new.

[phydeux]

What's the parking fee, and is it being enforced? There's no mention (or cost) about the fee on the Tramway's website. I haven't been out their too often in the past few years, and this'll make me even more reluctant to make the effort. It would be silly if they try to justify this fee increase as a result of the recent fire, as that's a once-in-a-lifetime thing, not an ongoing impact to the tram's business. Also, the road up to the Tram is 'private', but will they charge the early-morning bicycle riders and joggers coming up the road? And will they charge season pass holders every time they drive up to the Tram?

What's next, a baggage fee? Music fee (and they'll still be playing Ottmar Liebert!), weight charges (everyone better loose those few extra pounds!), or a sunshine fee (hey, its California; aren't you glad you're not in the upper midwest in January)?.

[Sally]

One way to avoid the parking fee is to park at the museum and hike to the top of the tram. I Hope they won't be charging the taxi drivers the fee because they would have to pass it on to the customer.

(Hey, my idea sounds about as convenient as parking your car at the Momyer TH to get to the Vivian Creek TH. Maybe my idea isn't so great after all!)