The Morgantown Parking Authority is responsible for all public paring garages, lots, and on-street parking in the City of Morgantown.

Mission Statement - The mission of the Morgantown Parking Authority is to provide the City a convenient, safe, secure, and aesthetically pleasing parking experience. The Authority shall continually maintain, improve, and increase parking opportunities to meet the unique challenges that are present as the result of growth and development within the City.

Goals - The Parking Authority goals are reviewed each year to determine their achievement and how that achievement has impacted the vision of the Mission Statement. Goals summon the Authority personnel to greet the many challenges that influence our customers' needs and convenient accessibility to Authority facilities.

Downtown Public Parking


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Wharf District



Public parking was established in the Historic Wharf District during the summer and fall of 2001. The temporary placement of 127 spaces in the District demonstrates that the Authority has made the initial commitment to the development. Today, the Authority is in the final stages to begin construction of a 4 story parking garage accommodating 316 vehicles. Ground will soon be broken for construction with completion slated in August 2003. The Authority will be working with City Planning, Public Works, and the Police Department for the transition of the present parking practices to a more appropriate parking program as defined in the City Code.

West Virginia University Partnership

The Parking Authority continues working with WVU to construct a 600 to 800 vehicle garage at the corner of Willey St. and University Ave. A very positive dialogue proceeds with the University to work through issues of the project's development. Presently the Authority is advertising for a Traffic Study of how this facility will impact this section of the City. Parking options and how they would apply to the property "footprint" are being explored to determine an economy of space. The Authority has placed this project on "high priority" to be constructed as an important resource for the future development of the Downtown. This facility will be a full public access facility that will considerably benefit both the business and University communities.

CURRENT PROGRAMS & SERVICES

Ticket Validation Program - On January 1, 2000, the Authority started a new program to validate expired meter tickets with the business sector in the Downtown. The new concept was created with Main Street with no charge to the member business and Main Street. This particular program is unique in comparison to other validation programs in other cities. This plan requires office staff to keep checks on validation requests to insure the rules are followed.

Member merchants have validated 975 meter violations and saved their customers $4,875 in fines. "This One's On Us" - This program issues a "This One's On Us" instead of an expired meter violation if the meter has been expired for 10 minutes or less. The Authority has received very positive response to this project and voted to continue it for another year. A total of 1,392 "This One's On Us" have been issued in fiscal year 2001-2002.

Booting Program - In January '99, the Authority began using the "Boot" to immobilize vehicles that have accumulated unpaid violations rather than towing them as in the past. Aesthetically, the Boot has greatly reduced the sight of cars being towed. For fiscal year 99-00, the Boot has increased revenue by $30,841 (685 @ $45 each) and reduced costs to the motorists by 55% or more by not being towed. Time is also saved by not waiting for tow trucks and police contents reports. Some towing does occur in cases of unclaimed vehicles to open the space for use.

Parking Survey - An ongoing survey to detail parking space activity was started on December 1, 1998. The Authority staff has compiled information daily to reflect the use of all Authority maintained facilities from 9:00 am to midnight. The Authority has developed a unique software program to compile the data that identifies influences of seasonal changes, semester sessions, holidays, special promotions, etc. The survey data will be compiled continuously to determine trends, enforcement, and the need for any new programs.
INITIATIVES

Pay-On-Foot Gate Access System

The Parking Authority has received concerns from its customer base about how may the Authority best reduce the number of expired meter citations and what can the Authority do to make the parking experience more pleasant? To answer this, technologies were investigated that could replace meters and present customers an easy access with superior revenue controls in the garages. The search went in the direction of technology that has evolved from established parking practices using gates for control. The attendant has been eliminated with automated Pay-On-Foot stations that take payments and validates tickets so customers may exit the facility. The cost for equipment, software/hardware, communications, and maintenance are approximately $200,000 for each facility. In March 2003, systems will be installed at facilities on Spruce Street and University Avenue. Installation will also be completed in new facilities at the Wharf District (2003) and Willey Street (2004-2005). There are many advantages associated with Pay-On-Foot systems. They are as follows: