After years of complaints over unfair tickets and ignored appeals, local villain ParkAtlanta, the city vendor in charge of issuing parking tickets, has been replaced.
ParkAtlanta’s contract, which began in 2009, ran out at the end of 2016 and many saw the writing on the wall that it would not be removed. While Atlantans were unhappy with what they perceived as shady practices, the city too was displeased with the deal they had made originally which paid them just $5 million per year out of the total tickets collected.
Enter SP Plus Corporation, a Chicago based parking management company that comes in with higher ratings from residents and a better deal for the city. Their operations in Atlanta, to be known as ATLPlus, will feature new hi-tech color parking screens, an app for easy payment and to see when your meter is about to run out, and an appeals process that allows individuals to dispute tickets. “Everybody who use to tweet me about their parking tickets, you now have somebody else to tweet,” said Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed Wednesday at an event unveiling ATLPlus.
The company also promises to be less aggressive and more accommodating of drivers. Said regional VP Jason Spoeth, “We will take a soft approach to see eye-to-eye with people and make sure we do the right thing.”
Of the tickets collected on a yearly basis, the first $7 million will go directly to the City of Atlanta. The next $6.5 million goes to ATLPlus, and any further revenue goes 70% to the city and 30% to ATLPlus. Those numbers are a better deal for the city, who only took the first $5 million from ParkAtlanta, who then had free reign to hand out as many tickets as possible for sweet, sweet profit. With a soft cap on ATLPlus’s total profit, the hope is that the new contractor will be less aggressive in ticketing since they have less incentive to drive their total as high as possible.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Williams Johnson gushed about the upgrade, saying Wednesday, “We’re excited about the enhanced benefits customers can expect from ATLPlus, The City’s new parking program is designed to enhance the customer parking experience, and users will benefit from the convenient payment options and the technological and safety improvements. The new program will also connect customers to the on-site customer service team who can quickly assist with equipment issues or answer questions.”
You can see a press release from the City of Atlanta on the move HERE.
