Council Approves Parking Meter Deal 11.16.10

Inside Indiana Business

A deal to lease the parking meter system in Indianapolis and create more than 200 jobs over the next two years has been approved. The Indianapolis-Marion County City County Council has voted in favor of the plan by a 15 to 14 margin. The city will collect an upfront payment of $20 million from Texas-based ACS and expects to collect more than $600 million in ongoing revenue over the length of the 50 year deal.

After three months of deliberation, the Indianapolis City-County Council approved by a bipartisan vote of 15 to 14 Mayor Greg Ballard’s proposal to modernize the City’s parking meter system by partnering with the ParkIndy, LLC team – comprised of ACS, A Xerox Company, Denison Global Parking and Evens Time.

“Our Council had a huge part in enhancing this parking proposal for the benefit of the citizens of Indianapolis, and our city should be proud of that,” said Mayor Ballard. “The ParkIndy team is committed to improving our parking system in a way that will spur economic development and will result in more convenient parking options for residents and visitors. ACS also will contribute to our local economy by bringing 200 additional jobs to Indianapolis over the next two years.”

“This proposal moves us in the right direction in bringing our current parking system to its fullest potential, and the actions of the Council tonight will result in the increase of much-needed funding for infrastructure improvements in our City,” said Councillor-at-Large Barbara Malone.

With its approval of Mayor Ballard’s proposal, the Council permits the City to lease Indianapolis’ metered parking system for 50 years. The City will have the option to terminate the contract for convenience every 10-year anniversary of its signing.

“The ParkIndy team is committed to bringing intelligent transportation systems to Indianapolis that will help spur economic growth and create jobs, while also providing more convenient and modern parking options,” said David Amoriell, group president of Transportation Solutions at ACS.

ACS will provide the City with a $20 million upfront payment, then a continuing stream of revenue from parking meter proceeds and violations. It is anticipated the City will collect approximately $620 million in ongoing revenue share over the length of the contract.

The ACS team includes two locally owned partners, Denison Global Parking, a minority-owned business, and Evens Time, a woman-owned business. Combined, the ParkIndy team has more than 175 years of parking experience. In addition to managing the parking system, ACS will contribute more than $40 million in economic impact to Indianapolis by locating 200 jobs within city limits over a two-year period.

By modernizing the City’s parking system, residents, employees and visitors of Downtown and Broad Ripple will have a better parking experience. New multi-space meter technology will enhance quality of life, making parking more convenient for customers by accepting credit cards and increasing available space. Convenience and turnover are key elements of creating a vibrant economic environment.

The City currently oversees more than 3,600 on-street parking spaces (of more than 15,000 spaces in total) and could incorporate other governmental entities’ parking lots throughout the area for a total of more than 24,000 parking spaces. Included in this request are three Capital Improvement Board (CIB) surface lots and one parking garage, one City of Indianapolis parking garage and all metered street spaces. In addition, the proposal asks for responses for the State of Indiana downtown parking garages, four garages affiliated with Simon Property Group and the parking to be created at the new Wishard Memorial Hospital.

For more information about the public parking system initiative, please visit www.indy.gov/parking or call (317) 327-4MAC.
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