Editor, The News:
Re: Free parking spots at Ridge Meadows Hospital eroded.
If there’s anywhere that needs to have more, not less, free parking spaces, it would be a hospital.
I much prefer to pay for parking on my way out, and not on my way in.
Here’s the problem: when you go to a hospital, in most cases, you have no idea how long you will be there. Therefore, you routinely pay for much more time than you actually need.
If I go for an X-ray, for example, will I be there for an hour? Two? More? Who knows.
So Impark, a private corporation, cleans up on the overage – an undeniable cash grab. Charging for actual time would be much more equitable for everyone.
Yes, I know Impark would have to employ a booth attendant (or some technology or other). But I think Impark, which sells the same space multiple times, can afford it.
Better to get a timed ticket going in, pay on the way out. Same machines. They do it at airports and elsewhere, so why not hospitals?
This is why I will always hand off my space to anyone else I see hunting.
Many have done that for me, so I always ‘pay it ahead.’
Greg Wilmot
Pitt Meadows