A SYSTEMS APPROACH TO ON-STREET PARKING ENFORCEMENT: ADDED REVENUE SHOULD NOT BE THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE /

On-street parking enforcement policies are frequently driven by the prospects of increased revenue. While this may be especially tempting in these times of severe budget reductions, it is not in the best interest of either the organization or its customers. Emphasis on managing parking enforcement to generate revenues may conflict with the principal objectives of providing public parking. On-street parking should be viewed as a sub-system of the overall parking management system. Enforcement policies should evolve. And they should be based on the dynamics of the system. Increased revenue should merely be a by-product. The author provides two detailed exhibits; 1) outlines the on-street parking enforcement sub-system, composed of numerous interrelated functions that are influenced by a variety of inputs; and 2) summarizes the types of enforcement identified, the current and desired levels of enforcement coverage, the required resources and number of citations associated with each parking restriction.