Tram begins parking fee "education"

[guest]

Hi,
I know this topic has had preliminary discussion here, but it's now coming to fruition it seems.
Yesterday, 7-16-14, 5:40pm, I was stopped by security at the new parking fee structure, (after almost driving right past it) and given a talk.
Now I realize this gentleman is just doing his job, but, the info he stated is perplexing at the least.
He mentioned this soft opening is a shake-down, gather info on opening & implementing the parking fee program.
But, he mentioned he (the tram) was doing me a favor by "allowing me to park" w/out having to pay an additional state park fee. Humm, not sure what the state has to do with this directly, since the Valley Station is not on state park land. After discussion, and several other cars becoming impatient, honking, one attempting to back up into opposite lanes to get around the block, I was given a small paper with Cougar lot on it to display in my window.
So, what does the board, who voted to implement this additional fee expect will happen on a busy weekend?? Long lines of cars, possibly overheating, people getting frustrated & attempting to turn-around on a narrow road. What about employees, SAR's, supply trucks making deliveries (with clutches over-worked, schedules disrupted etc.), taxi's, corp groups on tight itineraries, (that bring in lots of revenue), folks dropping or picking up, etc.

One employee mentioned the only way it will work, is to have pull tabs, (like airports & toll roads), you drive up, pull you tab, & pay when you purchase your tram ticket, seems logical to me). But, that does not seem to be the case, (yet). So, people will fumble with cash, or, worst yet, credit cards, getting into discussions about the extra charge, & so on, while the lines back up further down the road.

I'm not completely against the extra charge, if in fact, the tram actually needs increased revenue, and since the state park does receive, from what I've been told, is over a 1/2 million a year from tram, (anyone know numbers on this?).
But, the present approach seems to be majorly flawed from the start, and potential for serious problems, including safety, bad PR for tram), blockage to speedy access by parties requiring it, possible reduced local ridership, etc.
So, we'll see how the tram proceeds, and hope some of the board members actual drive up to experience it themselves, (John Wessman, board member, please drive up on a crowded weekend yourself and time the wait & see how the general public is reacting).

I know a few tram employees visit this board, and welcome your comments & enlightenment on this. My intention is to help make this a smooth transition, as I'm grateful to the tram, allowing me, and 1,000's of others, "fairly" easy access to an amazing wilderness.

I'll be heading up on Sat am, I'll be curious to see how it goes then.

ss

[Hikin_Jim]

Honestly, I'd rather just pay a few bucks more at the ticket window than to have to allow extra time and hassle to pay twice. I realize that splitting the total charge into two (one fee for parking, one fee for the tram) makes it "easier to swallow" for some, but if it involves long lines and a lot of hassle, then it's going to turn people off.

I for one would stay away if I got to the tram and encountered a long line of cars waiting to pay at an entrance toll booth.

HJ

[Andy]

The only good of a secondary parking fee is it kind of, sometimes, supposedly encourages carpooling and public transit. If its just for revenue I'd rather just swipe my card once thank you.

[smiles]

So does this mean that if someone is simply picking me up from Valley Station to get me back to my car at the Museum after a C2C -- they would be charged the "parking" fee too?

[cynthia23]

What a mad, bad idea this is. I already dread the tedious ordeal of finding a space in the lot and then either trudging up to the station or waiting for a shuttle, then waiting some more in the tram station. I will NOT wait to pay for parking. That would be a nightmare. If I see a line, I'm simply going to turn around and go somewhere else. Given the narrow canyon, the tight logistics, and the already time-consuming parking process, how could they think adding something that will further slow and frustrate people, could be a good idea? How can they think adding all that idling car exhaust will be okay? Did they do an Environmental Impact Report on this? If not, somebody should seriously demand one.

But they don't care about the locals or regulars. I'm sure the majority of their riders are one-time tourists who've come from far away and are not going to repeat the experience whether it's good or bad--so it doesn't matter if they have a miserable time. If the locals stop coming, I doubt they care.

I'm so disgusted with the Tram corporate management (not the Tram workers, they are just folks doing a job). Their corporate greed for ever-increasing profits seems to know no bounds. And the Tram board seems just fine with it, rubber-stamping every decision. It's shocking. Yes, in theory, forcing people to pay for parking encourages people to take public transportation, but there isn't any, that I am aware of, from Palm Springs to the tram station. So what is this but naked greed? There is no evidence that the Tram is in financial difficulty or needs this extra money.
If they do genuinely need money, I agree with HJ that I'd far rather they simply raised the price of the ride. This reminds me of those hotels that charge one price, but then add on all these bogus extra 'resort fees' so they can get the amount of money they actually want. I've read that people are so p**d off by all those dishonest extra fees that it actually has backfired on the hotels, and some are starting to return to the original 'one charge' method. I strongly suggest the Tram do the same. This will blow up in their faces, I guarantee it.

Thanks for posting this, Guest. I really hope the Tram takes heed.

[Hikin_Jim]

This will blow up in their faces, I guarantee it.

I sure hope so. I'm really scratching my head on this one. How could they possibly think this would be workable?

Cars idling on that steep hill while waiting in line in hot, hot weather? Engines are going to overheat. Maybe I'm missing something, but this sounds like a disaster in the offing. I for one am going to stay away from the tram until this either is shown to be working or it blows over.

HJ

[Florian]

Local news is reporting tram will not be charging for parking until sometime in 2016.

-Florian

[halhiker]

Sorry to say, Cynthia, but resort fees are here to stay. They did an about face on them maybe seven or eight years ago but no amount of complaining is going make them go away now. Too much profit.

[guest]

Lots of unanswered questions, and it seems management keeps most workers in the dark, which is unfortunate, since their basically the main contact with the public, besides the press.
So, I wonder how accurate the local press is Florian, we know their not too good on rescue info, but I hope it's true re. 2016, if so, their sure doing an early trail run.
Cynthia, I wonder how the tram, especially the board, thinks about the local impact. I hope this board is a good example of what the general public will feel about this ill-fated (IMHP) idea, will the tram respond & adjust, (hence the " soft opening / trial run).
From what I gather, the board makes more of the big decisions than mgmt. but maybe it's a shared command?

As several mentioned, if it creates a cluster @#$%, and people hang a U to get out of there, on that narrow road...some may have no choice, it they're cars begin to overheat, (very few turn off their a/c as advised).

Will also be interesting to see if the security guard got his info wrong, or if the tram will in fact attempt to use the state park as a reason to charge this fee.
I'll sent over more info after I go up Sat, as I'm sure others hear will.

ss

[zippetydude]

Hmmm, lemme put in a couple of possibly stress reducing comments here. First, once I heard about them charging for parking I felt it was just another stupid way to suck more money out of people. They don't charge for parking at Walmart, right? Well, with heightened awareness I took the tram up for some easy runs on a couple of weekend afternoons just to kill a little time. What I had not fully appreciated before was the logistics and expense that parking entails up there on that oh-so-steep hill. If they charged $1.00 a person to ride the shuttle up, then the same on the way back down, but allowed you to walk for free, my guess is that most tourists would be happy to pay that amount, which is (very roughly) what it comes out to if they charge $5.00 a car. It would be a mess to try and do that, but the fee really won't amount to much for most one-time visitors. And since there is a huge expense in running the shuttles, paying the staff to stand out there in the 100+ degree sun, and maintaining the lots and the shuttles themselves, the parking is a considerable secondary cost that the tram has encountered with increased usage over the years.

So maybe they're not so diabolical as I had at first assumed.

Secondly, if they don't charge parking for annual pass holders, then it will probably have no impact on most of us anyway! I know, that's rather selfish thinking, but I'm trying to see the bright side here.

So maybe it won't be as irritating as we might assume.

Thirdly, if they can run the parking as smoothly and simply as the cash toll stations, most cars barely even come to a stop before they pay and keep rolling, so it will (hopefully) not create long, crazy traffic jams in all likelihood. Even if it causes occasional tie ups, most of us go at such crazy hours (like well before the first tram during snow season to hit the fresh snow before the tourists) that it would likely not affect us.

So maybe we're too smart to get stuck in the problem anyway.

Now, enough mister nice guy. I asked about the whole plan when I was up there and I heard that they want to get rid of bicyclists and walkers on the road for some unknown reason, and the long range plan is to keep the general populace off the tram road altogether. How horrible is that?! I have ridden, run, and cheered for people on the tram road as I drove countless times. Yes, it's private property, but that private property is living off the attraction that is at the top of the tram, which is OUR property. I hope this is not their real plan, or that they fail if it is. But anyway, mostly this whole thing may be no big deal.

Just my 2 stress reducing cents.

z