A team of three companies led by Atlanta, Georgia-based Lanier Parking Solutions, which specializes in parking management services, has been selected to modernize and manage downtown’s public parking system.
The team also includes SMG Worldwide Entertainment and Convention Center Management, which manages the Raising Cane’s River Center; and The Aaron Group, an Atlanta-based Disadvantaged Business Enterprise that specializes in educational outreach. A selection committee of city-parish officials selected the team Monday from among five teams that responded in August to a request for proposals.
The contract with the Lanier team is expected to cost around $650,000 a year and is the first step toward a larger overhaul of downtown’s public parking system, which has been criticized as inefficient, outmoded and insufficient to meet demand.
“You have a coin operated system that was outdated in the 1990s,” says consultant John Fregonese, who was hired early this year at a cost of $100,000 to draft the RFP and help plan the parking system overhaul. “It’s like when everyone else is streaming Netflix, you guys are renting VHS tapes.”
Under the terms of Lanier’s deal with the city-parish—the specifics of which still must be negotiated—the company will manage nearly 200 new smart meters on the street that will replace the existing coin-operated meters. The company will also manage new automated systems that will be installed in the two River Center garages and the basement-level garages beneath City Hall.
Separately, the city-parish must procure the smart meters from a provider that has yet to be determined. Earlier this year, Fregonese said the contract for the meters is expected to cost around $1 million, a one-time expense. Other markets that have switched to smart-meter systems have saved money in the long run because of better collection and enforcement.
Mayor Kip Holden’s office announced the selection of the Lanier team earlier today. The recommendation now goes before the Metro Council. If approved, the contract will go into effect in early 2017.
“These companies are worldwide experts in off street parking and venue management,” Holden says in a statement. “They will help make our parking system more user-friendly, as well as help generate more revenues so that our parking system can be self-funded.”
Fregonese says the team was chosen primarily because of Lanier’s strength and experience in the field. The 28-year-old company operates nearly 400 locations with 2,000 employees across the country. SMG’s role will focus on making special event parking in the River Center garages run more smoothly, while The Aaron Group will focus on educating the public about the new parking changes.
—Stephanie Riegel
