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Parking Meter Operator Says It Wasn't Ready

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May 5, 2009 7:29 am US/Central

Parking Meter Operator Says It Wasn't Ready

LAZ Says It's Working Out Bugs With Faulty Meters

CHICAGO (CBS) ―

Click to enlarge 1 of 1: A parking meter on Clark Street in Andersonville.
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The company now running the city's parking meters says it wasn't ready to tackle the job.

LAZ Parking told the Chicago Tribune that it had to hire a lot of workers without parking experience, when it took over the meter business from City Hall back in February.

The company says it is working out bugs with the operation and faulty meters.

In December, the City Council swiftly approved a $1 billion, 75-year plan to privatize the city's 36,000 meters. The meters were handed over to Chicago Parking Meters LLC, a new private firm held mostly by Morgan Stanley, which in turn hired LAZ to operate the meters and maintain them.

LAZ is primarily in the business of garages rather than meters.

Meter rates skyrocketed to 15 minutes per quarter in many neighborhoods when it had been an hour last year, and 5 minutes per quarter downtown. The private firms also did away with free parking on Sundays and holidays, and require meters to be fed overnight downtown.

That, combined with a rash of meter malfunctions and inadequate signage notifying motorists of the new rules, has led many drivers to avoid parking at meters altogether. It has even led some drivers to jam, smash, or otherwise vandalize the meters.

Trying to dampen the uproar, in March, the city assured drivers they won't get tickets at broken or jammed meters. But drivers tell the Tribune they are having trouble challenging parking tickets issued as a result of such problems.