By Mary Goetsch
Aurora, Ill.
Traffic and transportation are challenging even in the best of times. I do my utmost to seek alternate times and routes to avoid traffic. I looked into the problem of parking in the City lot on N. Broadway, which serves both BNSF (train) riders as well as an increasing number of events held at RiverEdge (Park). Although there are no signs or indication for train riders to use the Lincoln Lot instead of the more active Broadway lot, I learned that “It is no secret the City wants commuters to park in the Lincoln Lot rather than the main lot.” I was curious as to how the ticket kiosks can change over to $10 instead of train parking for $2. After 9 A.M., the machines change over and they accept $5 and $10 bills (but no change or refunds). This price difference does not affect me since I take trains inbound before 8 A.M.. But what did affect me was the fact the ticket kiosks in main lot do not work reliably. On Dec. 1 it was raining and apparently the machines will not accept bills once wet. When I put quarters in, they seemed to jam. I had gotten one receipt for an incomplete $1 transaction. The machine would not do that a second time, to equal the $2 needed. Instead, change was returned and not completely what I had put in. I have noticed over a couple of years that usually I ended up paying an extra quarter or so, to receive the parking ticket. I looked into the problem of ticket machines not having a roof over them. The Lincoln lot does have a roof, so I wanted to know why not put a roof over the Broadway kiosks?
Here’s the answer and it surprised me. The machines on Broadway are solar-powered. The City did not need to tell me solar panels cannot be covered… so I solved my issue (use the Lincoln Lot and save not only the uncertainty of machines working correctly, but also avoiding the traffic on Broadway). I do wonder, though, why Aurora would contract with a vendor using such faulty machines. All the “timed out, $1 extra,” surely must be going into some bucket. Does the City get to keep the extra monies lost by customers? I don’t like to mention this, but all trouble seems to be related to the revenue stream everyone wants to maximize. I have heard the Casino is going to achieve its big move to the bigger and better enterprise on N. Farnsworth near the Outlet Mall. With the extra revenue coming in, can’t the City reduce the day event (like Christkindlmarket) to $5 from $10? It seems counterproductive for customers to be faced with an exorbitant parking fee. Now, about evening events, that would be open to discussion. At least, the ticket machines ought not be Solar-powered and weird. Solar power on any vending machine only turns people against green energy.
On a personal note, that 15 or 20 minutes I saved Friday, Dec. 15 at 5:30 p.m. got me home before a tow truck impeded traffic on 5th Avenue. It is hard enough waiting patiently in Phillips Park Light Display traffic to reach my driveway. There were a lot of people who turned around and fled the area about 6 p.m. This gives me another idea: would the annual light display work for the new Casino and entertainment district along North Farnsworth? The event is large enough now to justify a stadium-type location. Why not move the Light Display Event along with the Casino?