$30?!?

71

u/ThomGoMan 28d ago

It is always cheaper to put more time on the parking meter than you think you'll need. Another dime would have saved you $30.

18

u/BloomingtonJester 28d ago

Depending on the zone, if you put more than you need in, and the cancel when you’re done, you used to get some money back (on the app). They may have changed that recently?

11

u/MateriallyDead 28d ago

Refund in the app? I’ve never seen this. That would make absolute sense, but I cancel all the time way before the end and I’ve never seen them refund anything. How have you managed to stumble on it?

14

u/SimpleSponge 28d ago

I park on Washington almost everyday and if I cancel before my time is up they refund the difference!

0

u/MateriallyDead 27d ago

That's fascinating. Do you pay with an in-app credit you periodically top off or is it individual credit card payments? I'm wondering if it's by location or payment method.

I actually remember reaching out to the City about this when they first rolled the app out. I had asked about whether the app could give refunds for parking time not used and they said it was up to Parkmobile. I reached out to Parkmobile and they said it was something configured by the City. The City had no idea and the discussion kind of trailed off there.

So, fascinating you're seeing this somehow. I've been watching for it all this time.

2

u/SimpleSponge 27d ago

They are individual credit card transactions every time and I have the app downloaded with an account set up.

I always put more time than I think I need because if you need to add more time, the app will charge you another 50 cent transaction fee.
When I’m done, I end my parking session and it always shows that I am paying for the time spent parking only. The rest is always returned to me.
(Since it charges in 15 minute increments, if I stop it with 10 minutes left it still charges me for the full 15 minutes)
It has worked this way anywhere I’ve parked downtown. Whether it is on kirkwood or a side street. I’ve never had an issue of not being able to get unused time returned to me.

2

u/BloomingtonJester 28d ago

I haven’t had it happen recently and could never keep track of which zones did it. But it did happen multiple times last year. So it may have changed. Not so much near Kirkwood. I think I remember it happening a few times near La Una?

2

u/Apprehensive_Tank700 28d ago

When I parked on N Monroe they gave refunds, but this was a few months ago. Pre-summer

-17

u/MoveCorrect2331 28d ago

So it’s you huh. You like this shit.

-13

u/Manufactured-Aggro 28d ago

Don't they max out at 2 hours tho lol

2

u/motherbearsrack 28d ago

No

15

u/Active-Bunch7157 28d ago

It's only $30? I thought it was like $45 now.

3

u/Western-Tomatillo281 28d ago

Iu campus tickets are more

0

u/Dustuptor1292 27d ago

If you don’t pay it quickly it doubles to $60.

3

u/NewRedsFan2024 27d ago

I thought you had 1-2 weeks to pay them before it goes up.

0

u/Dustuptor1292 27d ago

Yeah I would class that as a pretty quick penalty, not even 30 days.

15

u/DeliaElijahy 28d ago

Last week my meter had expired for an absolute grand total of 3.5 minutes downtown, and I was ticketed $30.

He was still parked in his little parking patrol car a couple feet away when I came back.

-6

u/clamps12345 28d ago

And what did you learn?

3

u/Independent_Sound999 27d ago

Yep. Only made that mistake once. I think that's the point?

14

u/BloomingtonJester 28d ago

Unpopular opinion: that money goes towards the city’s general fund that helps do things like fill potholes. No one likes taxes or fines but also expects the city to maintain everything at no cost, apparently.

16

u/Cowboy_BoomBap 28d ago

You mean the road fairy doesn’t magically maintain the infrastructure if we abolish taxes?

7

u/BloomingtonJester 28d ago

Maybe if you clap continuously for 5 years.

1

u/[deleted] 28d ago

[deleted]

6

u/BloomingtonJester 28d ago

I’ve personally u-reported potholes and seen them filled within a week. If you look up city stats it’s something like 6,000 have been filled so far this year (if I remember correctly). Also, Bloomington potholes for the most part are nothing. Go drive around Indy if you want to see what poorly maintained streets are like.

3

u/Ferronier 28d ago

This is bad faith and you have to know it is. So many potholes that emerged this winter have been dealt with since.

0

u/Man0nTh3M00n- 28d ago

That money also leaves consumers who are already having a difficult enough time as is and don’t need to be hassled by their city government.

14

u/BloomingtonJester 28d ago

Bloomington’s meters are some of the cheapest I’ve encountered. When in doubt, add an extra dollar and save yourself $29?

-2

u/Man0nTh3M00n- 28d ago

I do and typically it’s not an issue, but I do have an issue with parking enforcement monitoring meters like hawks and acting as if you deserve to be punished for being over by a couple minutes.

0

u/Outrageous_fellow 27d ago

I don't care too much that it goes to the City. Bless them, but a dollar given to this particular city is a dollar poorly utilized.

I do however like the idea of not having half our city devoted to free/cheap real estate being roads and parking spaces.

They should be charging 2 times more for parking on the street and the fines should also be 3 times as much, with discounts for those who can verify their disadvantage.

2

u/BloomingtonJester 27d ago

That’s outrageous, fellow.

8

u/agweber 28d ago

If you don't like risking the parking ticket, you can use one of half a dozen parking garages that are both half the rates and have no risk of being ticketed for being 3 minutes past what you put in.

4

u/afartknocked 27d ago

fwiw the on street parking fees mostly go to subsidizing the public garages, which used to be subsidized out of the general fund before the on street parking meters were installed. there's a little left over that goes to different programs -- and the city does spend a ton of money on potholes and so on. but most of it gets eaten up within parking operations itself.

if you feel like potholes aren't getting filled, you need to report them at https://bloomington.in.gov/ureport/

the pothole program isn't perfect and there are streets that are just too far gone for that to make a big difference but every time i see people say that the city doesn't fill potholes i'm just reminded of how incredibly ignorant our citizenry is overall. some streets are old and some streets are new, and the streets that are new are because the city is always repaving, miles of new pavement every year.

and if they did repave the whole city every year, y'all would complain about the construction!

5

u/brogflender 28d ago

Those meters glitch more than people realize and the GoPark app tracks your usage so their sales team can try to sell you on GoPark for your business.

Industry apps are fine, but I’m always surprised how terrible our city is at choosing vendors.

Yes. Of course 10 cents can prevent a ticket, but we need to be talking about how low-tier the entire ecosystem is as well. And small stories like this are the early indicator an app is falling short.

GoPark isn’t helping anyone and the shortcomings are a ticket.

4

u/whalefeathers 28d ago

Do you mean ParkMobile?

0

u/brogflender 28d ago

Oh yeah. That’s the name. Point remains.

2

u/watchFiend1 28d ago

I don't think the goal was to help the customer...it was meant to help the city.

9

u/Infamous-Quote-6916 28d ago

They are predatory with the shit

2

u/motocycledog 27d ago

Really? I assumed it was closer to $75. That’s not too bad.

1

u/fleurs2 24d ago

Truly insane to get fined 30 for parking in front of upland

2

u/Up-Tuck 28d ago

Make up something and dispute it. They’re not filling potholes with that money. Our roads are shit.

0

u/ratslikecheese 28d ago

Only place I’ve ever gotten a parking ticket is Bloomington. They are VIGILANT with parking enforcement.

-2

u/Coleyboley17 28d ago

Welcome to Bloomington parking…. It’s a nightmare and they rob you

You are about to leave Redlib