There’s nothing quite like travel to raise the blood pressure. I’m adding another post to the blogosphere about the stupidity of erratic and changing travel policies. Today, the issue was parking at the Stapleton Park and Ride. They instituted a new fee, when it’s been free for years. I don’t mind paying the $1/day, since it’s still the best value around, but what irks me is how it has been implemented — no signs, no notification, and a flawed and unenforceable “interim” system.

I parked the car, headed to the bus line, and there a man approached me and asked if I needed help with parking. I thought he was a bum asking for money and tried to brush him off. That’s when I noticed his official looking ball cap, and he told me that I needed to pay for parking. He then escorted me over to fill out a form and drop my money into a box — no pens, no credit cards, no receipt.

What really got me is that without a receipt I’ll have no way to dispute a ticket. Without some sort of ticket on my dash, they’ll need to go through all these envelopes, search the whole garage, and then somehow mark my car to indicate that I’ve paid. I really doubt that anyone is going to go through all of that trouble, and with just one man letting people know, many are likely to slip through. Can’t help but feel like a sucker to pay this fee when I know that most people will get through without paying.

I grumbled, and felt bad for the poor man who has been set up by bad managers. Apparently a machine is going to be installed soon that will take credit cards and give a receipt. But, why implement the policy without all the pieces in place? Seems like everyone’s grubbing for more money in this poor economy, but how you implement a new policy still goes a long way toward how it’s accepted.

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