The Chattanooga Area Regional Transit Authority board of directors turned a laser focus to the city’s parking landscape at its meeting Thursday.
While it voted to raise garage rates and fines and add a few blocks of paid on-street parking on the North Shore, subject to City Council approval, it also voted to approve the lowest daily parking rate in the city for garages and lots, plus some first-hour-free garage parking.
CARTA is grappling with the loss of all Hamilton County funding this year and threatening to boot “scofflaws” who owe CARTA $2.6 million in parking fees and fines.
At the same time, the public transit agency is showing signs of preparing for aggressive rebranding guided by President and CEO Charles Frazier, who arrived in January this year.
“(County) Mayor (Weston) Wamp has signaled that he is interested in building a relationship with CARTA,” Mr. Frazier said. He said he is talking with County Mayor Wamp, Deputy Mayor Cory Gearrin and County School Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson to roll out a plan using CARTA to access “educational resources” before the next fiscal year.
Board Chairman Johan de Nysschen was rabid Thursday to recoup the millions lost in unpaid parking fees since 2018, but Mr. Frazier emphasized that booting is a forward-thinking strategy to guard future revenues.
“It’s impacting our ability to serve our community,” Mr. de Nysschen said, and that violators are holding the transit system “to ransom.”
“It’s a little bit of a result of their own life choices,” Chairman de Nysschen said. He said anyone who defends them is likely the guilty party themselves.
CARTA has not enforced a city ordinance written 22 years ago, when the Chattanooga Parking Authority was formed through CARTA. The ordinance has allowed vehicle booting or impoundment in these cases from the beginning, said Director of Parking and Special Projects Brent Matthews.
But board member Arcie Reeves said the scofflaw program could damage CPA’s reputation ahead of its facelift and fresh introduction in the coming months, overshadowing the free parking and new parking apps that ease planning.
“When I first heard it, it didn’t land softly to my ears,” Ms. Reeves said. “I don’t believe we know who they are or what their circumstances are,” she said.
CPA has identified 3,942 scofflaws since 2018 who have 41,000 unpaid parking tickets. The top two owe $15,000 each. A scofflaw has collected three unpaid parking tickets that are more than 60 days old.
Any booting plan will not be implemented until fully vetted by the city of Chattanooga and the mayor’s office, Mr. Frazier said. In September he will meet with council members individually, also to discuss the new North Shore paid parking on Cherokee Boulevard, Velma Avenue and Spears Avenue, which will require City Council approval of the new zone boundary.
“The schedule needs to be just a little bit gray,” Mr. Frazier said.
The board also heard plans for free one-hour parking at CARTA’s Shuttle Park North and South to attract patrons to the underused garages, and Mr. Frazier said the plan would later be expanded to two free hours.