Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet • Hacker News Board

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#201

Post by gonehome » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:38 PM UTC

acdha wrote: post #85

gonehome wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If if I was trying to solve this problem and actually cared about the students I would do some capacity based pricing. Almost always free, as you approach parking capacity price increases. You could probably also set up a system to text people who have been there more than X hours that they will start to be charged due to high capacity.

The problem is that people need to know in advance to change their behavior: tell them that today will cost $20 and people will take the campus shuttle, bike, or walk. Tell them that you’re charging more after they got there just makes it stressful and won’t change behavior unless it happens often enough to be highly predictable - just like many people drive hoping traffic won’t be bad today because they’re prone to…

I think this is a fair criticism and if the goal is to change behavior then I agree.

If the goal is to make sure there's always a spot available while having the lowest possible price to guarantee that then I think variable pricing based on capacity is better.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#202

Post by RHSeeger » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:38 PM UTC

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #71

rtempaccount1 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't it make sense that the university, that is charging the students all this money, ensure they have enough parking spaces to satisfy likely demand? Doesn't seem unreasonable for universities with very high tuitions, to provide amenities like reliably available parking.

> Wouldn't it make sense that the university, that is charging the students all this money, ensure they have enough parking spaces to satisfy likely demand? Does the school offer paid parking permits? If so, why should students who don't need a parking spot (for whatever reason) need to subsidize those who do? The high overall cost of tuition is a separate issue, and not one that can be solved by including even more…

For the same reason that lots of other things are subsidized, paid for even if you don't use them

- school buses and the like

- sporting equipment and facilities

- library

There's lots of services that schools provide, and charge everyone for, because they think it's good for the student body as a while.

Maybe a more controversial one... a school that supplies free transit to/from the local night scene, so that people don't drive to/from bars while intoxicated. It's better for everyone, including locals, for this to exist. However, the non-drinkers, the ones who are nowhere near the night scene, get no benefit from it; they pay for it anyways. And a lot of people would say that's good, and a lot would say it's bad.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#203

Post by jlarocco » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:38 PM UTC

Am I the only one who thinks this is wrong? An alternative headline could be something like, "Entitled College Kids Learn How To Keep Parking Like Assholes Without Paying Fines."

And it's a pyrhic victory anyway, because chances are now the cars will get one of the metal tire boots put on, or get towed. Both of which are more expensive and a bigger hassle for everybody.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#204

Post by gonehome » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:40 PM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #89

gonehome wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If if I was trying to solve this problem and actually cared about the students I would do some capacity based pricing. Almost always free, as you approach parking capacity price increases. You could probably also set up a system to text people who have been there more than X hours that they will start to be charged due to high capacity.

> I would do some capacity based pricing. How do you think parking prices are set? They set a price that results in the parking lot mostly full most of the time. They even vary prices by time of day, sometimes. Also, school parking usage is pretty predictable. Students are parked there while they go to class. Are you expecting them to leave class if parking gets too expensive?

If that's true then they're already doing it and they should have it free sometimes.

I'd suspect that the goal may be generating maximum revenue rather than capacity at lowest price though. If the goal was variable pricing so you get a spot at lowest price (free when possible) then I'd be happy with that.

You could have an upper bound price per lot if you wanted people to know what they might have to pay worst case, but uncapped would be interesting if you want there to always be a spot available.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#205

Post by SubiculumCode » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:40 PM UTC

My favorite part of the article: Guerilla'd.

"but our fave low-tech workaround was shared by a user who found out his campus only had 12 wheel boots to go around and bought and illegally parked 12 scrapyard cars that could be “sacrificed” so everyone else could park however they wanted."

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#206

Post by SubiculumCode » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:42 PM UTC

cortesoft wrote: post #26

> Obviously, some students thought that fee was ridiculous – just like paying for parking at a university where you’re already paying a hefty tuition fee I hate parking fees as much as the next person, and totally appreciate the creativity of the people who defeated this device. However, how should we handle distributing a limited number of parking spaces when there are more people who want to park than available spa…

I work at a hospital. I have to pay for a parking permit to park at my work. On its face, this is ridiculous.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#207

Post by ravar » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:44 PM UTC

sdenton4 wrote: post #115

xyst wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mass transportation options coupled with high density buildings should be the way to go. Parking just doesn’t scale. The uni I went to had a decent bus system that had routes along the major apt complexes (private and uni owner). Buses were usually on time, and likely faster than trying to find a parking spot.

Yah, UC Davis runs its own bus service (entirely run by students, actually), and has run a decades long psy-ops campaign to get people to ride bikes. It seems to have worked quite well!

Davis also has the rare advantage of rarely raining, and being incredibly flat. Both of these make biking far more attractive to the average student.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#208

Post by brokensegue » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:45 PM UTC

stoops wrote: post #176

FireBeyond wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is that analogous to hacking a device so you can tether to it and use its data plan to avoid costs yourself?

They gave it to him. They put it on his car.

If your car gets booted and you pick the lock to remove it can you now legally sell the boot?

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#209

Post by francisofascii » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:48 PM UTC

danaris wrote: post #189

TulliusCicero wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, the world does far more than enough unreasonable subsidizing of driving as it is. By all means, have some space for parking. And then charge market rate for it at peak hours, with free transit/shuttle passes for students.

That's great for urban campuses. But what about suburban and rural ones? Also: Great, you've got the students covered. What about the faculty and staff? They just have to pay "market rate" for the privilege of parking at their own damn jobs? (Full disclosure: I work on a rural college campus, where there are chronic problems with parking, and an administration that cares far more about the campus being beautiful than…

A walk on a beautiful campus while going to work does not sound all that terrible. To your point, including free or reduced cost parking for staff and not students sounds reasonable.

Re: Students defeat new 'Barnacle' parking clamp, skip fines and get free internet

#210

Post by ringzero » Sat, Jan 18, 2020, 7:50 PM UTC

emptybits wrote: post #183

I spent a decade in the parking technology space. (Co-founder PayByPhone -- don't hate me, I genuinely tried to make things more civilized and convenient, I swear!). Anyways, I miss hearing about hilarious and genius hacks and escalations like this. The brilliance deployed to work around parking regulations is amazing. Not condoning, but here's a (naive?) though experiment if the Barnacle shows up in use again... Par…

I find PayByPhone pretty convenient, especially now that it's got a few years of polish on the app. The key thing is that the signs are legible, and have the number you care about (parking zone?) right there in bold print. And hey, - at least that money isn't going to Impark.