Fairness would dictate that since we offer free parking for cars in the downtown on Saturdays, we should also have free bus fares for transit users in the downtown on Saturdays.
It would be simple enough to implement. The free fares would only apply to the downtown bus stops. Those coming in by transit would pay to go downtown but get a free ride back home. Those who live in the downtown area would get a free ride out of the area but would have to pay for their return trip.
Yes, there would be some people who would use the free Saturday rides other than to shop but the free parking is being used for other than it was intended for as well. I'm thinking of some employees and business owners that work downtown who use the free parking that was meant for their customers.
The theory behind this idea was that people would like to shop downtown but the cost of parking is a deterrent. Did we have our parking enforcement officers chalk and time the parked vehicles to establish where and for how long people were parking initially? That would have established a base line for comparison purposes.
Is there a way for Burlington to measure the results of this move? How do we know if free parking helps the Downtown businesses in any meaningful way? It could be just a loss of revenue, an increase of traffic, and an encouragement for more cars on the roads. Where's the logic behind this idea if we can't track results? What happened to the idea of spending on needs and not wants?
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