Charging for Parking at Regionals.

[codeoftherobot]

Parking at the Davis Regional was $6 for Thursday and Friday however for Saturday they allowed the lot to be free, which was very kind of them to do so.

[AmyPrib]

Quit complaining. It's parking. It's a known cost. It always will be. That's how parking people make their money - on big events. Venues don't have to give FIRST events any special treatment and if they do it's normally because the planning committees worked some magic. I can understand the frustration with some outrageous parking costs, but unfortunately that is how it will be in many cases. Perhaps some extra fundraising can be done to cover it.

There will always be rising costs, there will always be growing pains. I'm not necessarily saying "nothing" can be done and just deal with it, but go see what you can do about it instead of complaining that FIRST isn't doing enough... about parking of all things. From looking at old papers, I believe that the cost of FIRST registration fees has risen about $2k in the last 15yrs...That's pretty good if you ask me.

Boilermaker had free parking in a garage 100yds from the venue. Purdue was nice enough to let us reserve it and a surface lot for bus/trailers free of charge for the 3 days. Most events don't have this luxury. Try to tell the RPCs that they should pay the cost of parking for every team. As a committee member, I would rather spend money on the regional activities and details, as well as scholarships for students, rather than parking costs. Many regionals don't have money to splurge on extra things..

Come up with ideas that are win-win!! Suggest these ideas at team forums at the end of the season. Find out who your regional planning committee is and make suggestions! Those who say something "must be done", well.... what do you suggest? And I mean, besides saying "FIRST or the committees should just pay for it".

[akshar]

at boston:
parking was 8 dollars for thursday, and 10 dollars for friday and saturday (each), it was a BU lot, its also open for eceryone to park in and is very big. the amount everyone paid was significantly less since on average BU charges from 20-30 dollars to park in their lots.

[yodameister]

Had I known about a parking fee, I may not have been as upset as I was at Davis. We were traveling in 3 vans from our hotel, and at $18.00 a day, we were unprepared. I have never had a problem with people making money, but I would like to have seen that at least the teams who are participating get a parking pass (or 2 or 3) for each team.

[RobotsVsKittens]

Originally Posted by AmyPrib

Quit complaining. It's parking. It's a known cost. It always will be.

There was no cost for parking at SBPLI. As a volunteer, I don't think I'd have liked the idea of having to pay to park, but I probably would have anyway. Some of these numbers people are mentioning are quite high, if you're a poor college student and volunteering, $20-$30 on parking might prohibit you from attending.

Still, I wouldn't blame FIRST for it.. I am sure the people who plan the stuff are trying to get the most accessible venues they can. And free parking because you *might* make the world a better place? Silly.

[Ashley Weed]

The absolute worst venue I have been to for parking was the Pitt Peterson Center for the Pittsburgh Regional. The venue is directly across the street from one of the leading hospitals in the nation however only 3 or so handicapped parking spots were available. Nearby parking "garages" were available if you could walk to the venue, however one could easily expect the daily charge to exceed $20.

I have also attended the Mid Atlantic regional at two different venues, the Annapolis Regional, and the Finger Lakes Regional - never being charged at any of them.

Back in the days of Disney - if you came in during the early morning as the pits opened, they allowed you to park for FREE @ DISNEY.

[dangerousdave]

The Peachtree Regional is held at the Gwinnett Civic & Cultural Center, NE of Atlanta and does not charge to park a vehicle. That includes other events that are held there also, including hockey.

There will of course be parking fees around the Georgia Dome for the Championship event but you are downtown in a large city so of course there will be a fee. First can't tell all of the parking lot operators in a downtown area to not charge or give a reduced rate.

Dave

[Rick TYler]

Come join us at Portland. There are a bunch of hotels only a few blocks from the hotel, and it is a nice neighborhood. We park for free at the hotel and walk to the tournament venue (where you can park for the day for less than $10 -- or park for 30 minutes for free for loading and unloading people and gear).

[gburlison]

Denver does not sound too bad at $5.00 per day. ColoradoFIRST has done a good job of publicizing the parking fee. The regional is held in at the Denver University hockey arena and parking in and around the campus is scarce. The regional competition is held during spring break, otherwise the parking would be full of students.

[GeorgeTheEng]

Originally Posted by Rick TYler

Come join us at Portland. There are a bunch of hotels only a few blocks from the hotel, and it is a nice neighborhood. We park for free at the hotel and walk to the tournament venue (where you can park for the day for less than $10 -- or park for 30 minutes for free for loading and unloading people and gear).

That's actually a surprise to me. On the east coast, I don't know of any hotel in any major city that does charge for parking, even for guests.

[N7UJJ]

Arizona was $6 a day.

I don't really mind paying for parking. It's a cost of driving. But...

The multi million dollar basketball player, football player, singer, entertainer, etc. does NOT pay parking where they perform. Our teams are the performers that draw the crowd that pays for parking. It kind of bugs me that we are not offered the same courtesy.

The first year we went to the AZ regional, I did not relize they would charge for parking and all I had was my $5 for lunch. Bummer.

[MikeDubreuil]

Originally Posted by guju4life2005

at boston:
parking was 8 dollars for thursday, and 10 dollars for friday and saturday (each), it was a BU lot, its also open for eceryone to park in and is very big. the amount everyone paid was significantly less since on average BU charges from 20-30 dollars to park in their lots.

The regional planning committee negotiated for this price break.

[Cactus_Robotics]

[quote=sanddrag] Second, why should a parent have to pay to come see their student competing?

If you kinda think about someones parents always has to pay to see their child compete, they may not charge parking at high school games but parents still have to pay 4 or 5 dollars to see their son or daughter play basketball or football.

[RoboMom]

Originally Posted by Ashley Weed

I have also attended the ..., the Annapolis Regional, - never being charged at any of them.
.

At the Chesapeake, parking was free to all at the Stadium with shuttle buses running to the Naval Academy.

However the Regional Planning Committee picked up the tab. The parking was not free. We just did not pass along the costs to you. It is already a difficult enough place to access.

Parking at the Stadium normally costs $5/car.

[Koko Ed]

PArking at FLR was free.
It's just not anywhere near the building (typical RIT) and don't get me started on the rent a cops!