Follow Phay's transit column with Metro News Calgary each Monday
I happened upon a transient man in an Impark lot downtown after a quick romp up the Calgary Tower with my visiting family about a spring ago.He scuttled up to me, discreetly tapped my shoulder, and politely asked if I would hand over my parking voucher. There was about one hour’s worth of time credit remaining.I was impressed with his capitalist scheme — albeit a grey area as a prosecutable offence — and was happy to oblige, knowing the second sale of my receipt would go to this bohemian entrepreneur and not back to the self-proclaimed civil servants at Impark who unendingly pillage the pockets of Calgary motorists destined for the core.This fellow wasn’t the run-of-the-mill crackerjack loiterer. He was personable, seemingly meeting a low-needs lifestyle in his rat-a-tat getup as the numerous pre-used parking receipts tucked into the palms of his tattered fingerless gloves could attest.But his method got me thinking.Why don’t citizens share the cost of parking? How many unmilked parking receipts shamelessly slip into the abyss of our car vents without the privilege of running their course?And, how much extra money are the parking-service corporate elite pulling by doubling up on the short-stay parker?Granted parking companies offer a myriad of payment options these days, but patrons more often than not overpay just to keep the looming trigger-happy meter-man at bay.Impark, for instance, incorporates technologies like wireless-cellphone payment options to rein in loitering and reselling stubs, as well as man patrol and other security measures.The Calgary Parking Authority ties a single transaction to a licence plate rendering any receipt gifting futile.It would be fitting though, in the spirit of the parking patron community to minimize effects of cut-throat capitalism, especially sharing the cost of an annoying expense such as parking.Call it consumer-to-consumer goodwill.In retrospect, ownership of your parking time and receipt begins when the coins drop; you should be free to use that product any way desirable.But, this basic principle of consumerism is hindered by the concept of borrowed time being supplanted by bureaucratic hum-chuckers who keep finding ways of suppressing the Good Samaritan.If only the pundits of the parking lots could help Calgary commuters dump some unprovoked kindness in the coffers of community, we might not only spread some miniscule wealth, but a few smiles as well.
