Chicago’s tried it before. Here’s how that went.
Tag: LAZ
Posted inNews & Politics
FAIL: The Reader’s Parking Meter Investigation
Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke’s report on the privatization of Chicago’s parking meters, how the deal went down, and its fallout
Posted inBlogs
Mayors say the darndest things…
…when their popularity is at 35%. Daley losing confidence in parking meter company Of note: “[Voiding the contract] would be tantamount to asking Chicago taxpayers ‘if they want their real estate taxes raised,’ the mayor said.” Ben Joravsky thinks your real estate taxes are going to go up anyway. We shall see, but I have […]
Posted inBlogs
IVI-IPO parking meter lawsuit will proceed
The Reader-inspired lawsuit about the parking meter deal, filed by the IVI-IPO in August, has sufficiently reasonable grounds to be filed, saith Judge Richard Billik.
Posted inBlogs
“Totally screwed up”
Mayor Daley to admit everything, nothing about the parking meters: “I’ll be the first to admit that we totally screwed up the way it was implemented. I want us to do better — and we will” [snip] “After falling on his sword in the bluntest of terms, the mayor will defend the deal as ‘financially […]
Posted inBlogs
Smart vs. Stupid: The Eternal Usability Question
Having now used the LAZ-Boy meters a couple times, I found myself having exactly this reaction: “Here’s what the redesigned ‘user-friendly’ parking solution looks like: 1. Park your car. 2. Walk up to 1/2 block to a Pay Box. 3. Wait in line to use it. 4. Use coins or credit cards to purchase parking […]
Posted inNews & Politics
FAIL, Part Two: One BILLION Dollars!
In April the Reader documented how the Daley administration hid its process for privatizing the city’s parking meters from the public and the City Council. Now, three months into the deal, the city still won’t explain how it determined what the deal was worth—and new evidence suggests the taxpayers were hosed out of billions of dollars.
Posted inBlogs
Speaking of FAIL
The Trib finds some good dirt on LAZ, the apparently quite appropriately named company that now runs our city’s meters.