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

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

#311

Post by FireBeyond »

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.

Ooh, I'd love to hear that one in court.

"Your Honor, that sign on the entrance to the parking lot discussing parking restrictions and enforcement thereof somehow implied that they're giving me this device and authorization to use it how I see fit".

I suppose if someone leaves their wallet on the hood of your car while they're tying their shoelace, they've also authorized you to use their credit cards, right?

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

#312

Post by arjie »

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 want you to know that I extended my parking space from my treadmill at Barry's today. Your company is great, bro. The Android app is less great, it just keeps crashing, but the functionality from the company itself is great (since I can just use the website).

It definitely is more civilized and convenient. Great service. Totally happy. You should be proud.

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

#313

Post by emptybits »

throwawaybcpark wrote: post #239
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…

@emptybits PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do an AMA somewhere (even in this thread) 1. What do you think about products like SpotHero & others? (Can those comp 2. Do you think parking lots will be an attractive investment in the future? (Autonomous or bet on it for next while)

Hi. Thanks for the interest!

1. Having left PayByPhone and the parking sector years ago, I don't think I'm one to comment intelligently on current innovators. Quick observation... I still see too much capital being spent on custom, vulnerable, armored, escalating, and gratuitous hardware solutions when simple solutions are already in hand. But that's the classic bias of a naive "software guy" looking at an old-thinking industry, isn't it? :-)

2. re/ parking lots ... Depending on the city, zoning, taxation, and its appetite for redevelopment, a parking lot may be a path for a landowner to pay property taxes and flow a bit of cash while the awaiting the right time to develop it into a new use. The new use may push the same parking, or more, underground. IMO automating parking into something ultradense in urban centres makes sense, but I can understand reluctance to pour capital improvements into land that may change form radically if it's in the path for commercial or residential redevelopment. This is part of the reason we found it easy to sell a low/no-capital solution to parking operators, compared to paystations and hardware solutions. Roaming driverless shared cars that are highly utilized and rarely need to park ... that's an attractive vision, I think. But maybe that starts to look a bit like public transit?

Me, I try to ride my bicycle, walk, and take transit everywhere. :-)

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

#314

Post by somehnguy »

jimktrains2 wrote: post #277
hanniabu wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue I have is cases like at my school where they basically had entrapment. At the start of every year there'd be like 2-3 months where it's a free for all and students could park wherever. The certainty was nowhere near adequate parking and not everywhere that people parked was readily obvious to be illegal. Some spots had the yellow on the curb worn away 90%, others were things like too close to a corner or hy…

That's not entrapment. Entrapment is the state coercing someone to do something they would not do under normal circumstances. It sounds to me as if these people are illegally parking under normal circumstances. The rules about curbs, hydrants, driveways, &c are well known and common enough between every state that there is no excuse that they weren't aware this was illegal.

Call it what you want, its still a screwed up way to run things.

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

#315

Post by cgriswald »

hanniabu wrote: post #230
javiramos wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other day I went to a concert and parked my car at a parking lot. When the concert ended, of course there were masses of people trying to exit the parking lot. There were only 2 cashiers to pay the parking ticket — no automated machines. So we waited over an hour to pay our ticket. Time that we ended up paying with our ticket (per hour parking). The cashier didn’t want to refund us for the waiting time. If the la…

While I agree that's a hassle, I don't think this should result in a refund. It's like ordering dinner, eating it, and then wanting a refund for the meal because you waited a long time for the meal.

Until the food arrives, you don’t know how long it will take. When it arrives then you just... what, leave hungry?

I’m not paying just for food. I’m paying for the entire dining experience. I also probably have plans after the restaurant that are now delayed or a babysitter waiting at home for me to return. If you not only don’t deliver on a good dining experience but also inconvenience me I should get a refund. In my experience, restaurants generally understand that and I don’t even have to ask for the refund.

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

#316

Post by [deleted] »

ppseafield wrote: post #251
hanniabu wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that's a hassle, I don't think this should result in a refund. It's like ordering dinner, eating it, and then wanting a refund for the meal because you waited a long time for the meal.

I think the OP meant they were charged for the extra hour they spent waiting in line trying to exit.

[deleted]

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

#317

Post by hanniabu »

ppseafield wrote: post #251
hanniabu wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree that's a hassle, I don't think this should result in a refund. It's like ordering dinner, eating it, and then wanting a refund for the meal because you waited a long time for the meal.

I think the OP meant they were charged for the extra hour they spent waiting in line trying to exit.

Oh I see, thought that they didn't think they should pay just because there was a long line to get out.

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

#318

Post by jhloa2 »

cortesoft wrote: post #276
as300 wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems like a really convenient way for schools to pass the buck on to their students, while administrative bureaucrats continue to rake salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

This is ludicrous that you think administrative salaries are huge factors in the cost of education.

How is is not? Many colleges now have more administration staff than education faculty... I know that at my university they constructed a massive new building to house their growing administrative staff.

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

#319

Post by sdenton4 »

ravar wrote: post #234
ryanlol wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> being incredibly flat Europe is full of two-wheeled vehicles that manage to solve this problem.

But we are talking about what it takes to get lazy Americans to bike. I am well aware of how popular biking is in Copenhagen even though they have comparatively terrible weather. Davis truly has an unusual confluence of factors that make biking more appealing to Americans.

On the other hand, lots of other cities in California and elsewhere have similar circumstances. Meanwhile, Copenhagen has very different circumstances but huge bike uptake.

It's fundamentally about policy. Take the steps, and you'll get the results.

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

#320

Post by takk309 »

as300 wrote: post #240
takk309 wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This really depends on the state. In Montana, for example, it is a legal requirement that parking is funded separate from the rest of the school. This means that no tuition can pay for new lots or enforcement. Fees gathered from normal parking rates and fines are used only to maintain and/or improve the parking.

This seems like a really convenient way for schools to pass the buck on to their students, while administrative bureaucrats continue to rake salaries in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Why should students get free parking? It is a choice to use the parking facilities (those with mobility issues aside). I am in favor of parking rates being based on commute distance. If you live within a reasonable walking distance, say two miles, then you can't get a parking pass. Then concentric rings out from there with decreasing cost. While there would be some address fraud, it would help to reduce the dependence on parking.

I went to a university that has no shortage of land to expand to. This meant that they have a couple of very large parking lots for on-campus students and some large commuter parking lots. If you didn't mind walking, parking was easy to come by. Those that complained about a 10 minute walk thought there was no parking. Funny thing was that it was easy to cross all of campus in less that 15 minutes. Really is a matter of perspective, I suppose.

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