Miami Parking Authority

TOURISTS BEWARE. This is government sanctioned extortion. There’s an industry here in making sure you pay and pay and pay. I just had my car towed for parking in an area that was not marked but turned out to be: «neighborhood parking by decal only» -$ 23 to the city of Miami, $ 118 to Molina towing. I’m going to make it a point to stay away from the City of Miami, if I can.

I visited Wynwood today and I miraculously found parking on the street near the festival I was attending and saw the signs for «pay by phone». I had never heard of it and I wasn’t even sure if they enforced parking on Sundays but to be safe and avoid a citation, I registered online thru my phone and paid. I paid 3 hours of parking and it cost me $ 3.75, saving me money because the lots wanted $ 20.00. The registration process was quick and simple, all they need is a credit card number, your plate number and the reference number on the street sign.
The reason I am not giving it 5 stars is that they offer an app for Androids, iPhones and Blackberry but nothing for Windows Phones and that’s what I carry. Who has a Blackberry anymore, didn’t they go bankrupt? You really don’t need the app because you can do it thru the website but I imagine it’s more convenient for those who use it often. Other than that, it was quick and it saved me money, mission accomplished.

Want some friendly advice? Here’s some: When possible, use a credit card to pay at the «pay to park» machines. Why? Because paying via a credit card allowed me to have yet another erroneous parking citation dismissed this month!
I was attending a business lunch a few weeks ago, parked a few blocks from the restaurant, put plenty of time on the machine, printed out my «pay to park» slip and stuck it on my dash. I returned to find an $ 18 parking citation on my windshield! Time of citation? 12:35 p.m. Time my «pay to park» slip was due to expire? 1:55 p.m. That afternoon I fired off a letter to the City of Miami Parking Violations Bureau. Along with that letter I enclosed a copy of the citation with my license plate # shown on the ticket, a copy of my vehicle’s registration which showed my license plate # and me as the registered owner, I then provided them with a copy of the pay to park slip which wasn’t set to expire for an hour and 20 minutes after I was issued the citation, and lastly, printed out a copy of the credit card charge that showed that I had paid $ 3.00 to the Miami Parking Authority that day, and of course the Visa slip showed my name as being the same as my vehicle is registered to.
I’m afraid that, if I’d paid cash for parking on that day, I’d be out $ 20 for the cost of the citation, though I was legally parked and had plenty of time remaining on my meter when the ticket was issued. Since I had a credit card slip to back me up, I think that definitely helped my case.
Sadly, I shouldn’t have had to even deal with this! Thankfully I was able to provide good and thorough documentation, but I can’t help but wonder how often the city does this and gets away with it, either because people can’t provide the kinds of documentation I did, or because they simply say «screw it, it’s only 20 bucks» and pay without questioning?

Since writing my last review of the Miami Parking Authority, I have the following updates:
1. New Mobile Verrus Pay by Phone for Smart Phones — The site
is a better way of adding parking time via a Smart Phone than Voice. The Mobile website lists your previous locations. You can also add a new vehicle such as a friend’s car (be careful you enter the correct license plate.)
2. Wrong Location or License Plate — I did enter an incorrect license plate, I entered a «6» rather than a «G». If that occurs, you can call 305−373−6789 or send a fax to 305−579−7558 explaining the situation. It is possible they could dismiss your ticket.
3. Fort Lauderdale has a different Phone number — Be careful when calling the Pay By Phone Number. The phone numbers are different in both cities but the location numbers are the same. In this case, they would not dismiss my ticket.
4. Parking Downtown — There are some men carrying orange flags that want to direct you into a Miami Parking Meter spot and then will ask you to pay them a fee for the right to park there. In most cases, once you give them the money, they will either put it in the meter for you or not at all. I once saw a couple give a $ 20 bill to the guy. When I told them that they had to pay, the guy came over to me and told me to stay out of business or he was going to do bodily damage to me. There have also been times when the guys have refused to let me out of my car before paying. I called 911 and received the Hialeah Police, and never received a live person. However, in December of this year, I saw the Miami Police arresting some of these guys. Before Miami Heat games, they even parked a Miami Parking Truck with no one inside on the street which appeared to address this issue. This is a step in the right direction.
The Miami Parking Authority has a long ways to go but I am seeing improvements.

Parking in Miami is a nightmare, but I think Miami Parking Authority is getting better.
I pay monthly for my garage downtown. It’s the garage that holds the new location for the parking authority offices. It’s really nice and conveniently located to the courthouses, government center, and only a block or so away from my office. It’s $ 99 to park in the this new garage. It’s a good deal considering some of their uncovered lots are the same price. I think that’s one of their problems though. Some of these lots should be less than the the brand new garage. Their pricing for monthly customers doesn’t make sense.
The office staff has always been friendly and helpful whenever I’ve had issues. The garage is clean and I always see security driving around. All of the MPA garages and lots (at least the ones downtown) give you the first half hour free. There’s also a City of Miami resident discount for on-​street Pay By Phone parking if you call or e-​mail them to register.
Whenever I’m in Midtown or Brickell I use the pay by phone system. The convenience charge is worth it to get the text message and be able to add time via phone rather than have to stop whatever I’m doing to go back and fill the meter.

I’ve had a little time to cool down and recover from my TWO parking mishaps last week…
My first beef: the meters in the lot behind sunset place are so confusingly placed. Put the fucking meter in the middle of the space, not on the edge of the passenger’s side! I mistakenly fed the meter for the spot next to mine because it was the closest to my door resulting in ME getting a ticket when the car next to me had 7 minutes left. Arg!
Salt in the wound: I recently parked at a garage on Washington/​16^th in MB. I paid via the machine on the first floor with my debit card. After waiting several minutes and wondering if my card was going to be returned, I received an error message and was forced to pay cash. No biggie (b/​c thankfully I had some). I then used the paid ticket stub to put in the automatic machine to leave the lot. BUT after glancing over my bank statement a couple days later, I noticed that I was indeed charged $ 10 to my debit card. I called to get the issue cleared up and was told there was nothing that could be done because I did not have a receipt or proof. Really? Way to be assholes, Miami Parking Authority.
I understand the need to charge for parking and ticketing those who abuse it, but stupid situations like this are what give me a bad taste of Miami.

Pay by phone is sweet. It had a surcharge last time I used it (30 cents)
The first time, you have to give them a bunch of info and it takes a while.
After that, it recognizes your phone number. All you have to do it enter the zone (on the sign) and enter the time.
They’ll text you before the meter is up and ask if you’d like more time.
If I’m going to have to pay for parking, I’m going to learn to appreciate the convenience of this method…

I love how these places charge so much for so little. While I agree that they are really bad, I must say that they garner an extra star over the rest of the competition in the area for being truthful about the gouging and also having A LOT more security than any of the private garages/​valets. Over the past couple of months I have noticed that they are also getting rid of a lot of the people that work at the lots and replacing them with automated systems. We shall see how long this endures.

Like Ben Franklin famously said, nothing is certain but death and parking tickets you swear you don’t deserve.
As much as I hate the MPA, you’ve got to give them a little credit for being pretty incompetent at their jobs.
I paid a fuckload of money last year on parking tickets, but hey, I deserve to pay a whole lot more. I’m sure I paid more than I would have if I’d actually paid for parking but still, I think it’s worth noting I really hardly ever got caught.
Here are some notes from my delinquent parking handbook:
— There’s about a 30% chance you’re getting a ticket on an unpaid street meter during a regular time. It should be obvious but the less time you spend somewhere the less likely you are to get a ticket.
— Avoidng payment on a street is safest, if you’re in a commercial compound like Midtown Mall or Lincoln Road (which I think is handled by a different agency), the chances of getting caught increase significantly.
— The later at night or emptier the place you park, the better your chances of not getting a ticket. (doesn’t apply late at night in club-​ville near Space and Vagabond)
— And my favorite tidbit about the MPA: the chances of you getting a parking ticket in the rain decreases to pretty much zero. You think meter maid Bob wants to peek in your dashboard in a thunderstorm? Fuck no, he doesn’t get paid enough to get struck by lightning.
Now about my completely irrelevant star rating, I want to point out that I would actually give MPA three stars if not for the powerful scorn I hold for the parking meter machines they had installed all over downtown in 2008.
I can’t think of a bigger sign of Miami-​style corruption than these godforsaken machines. They couldn’t accept any dollar bill that wasn’t crisp like cocoa, straight from the ATM. Alternately, the machine would take at least two minutes to figure out that it couldn’t understand what the hell a debit card was and another two to figure out that it could, in fact, take your credit card.
In the last year though they did manage to rip out most of the crappy ones and waste tax payer dollars on replacement models that actually function.
Other than that, I think MPA is as shitty at their jobs as we could hope for, most parking spots have that «pay by cell phone» option and paying your ticket online is pretty easy.

Just wanted to join in the hate parade If and when I get elected to to whatever government office that has the power to eliminate parking meters, that will be my first order of business
VOTE FOR GEORGE!

They are public thieves and extortionist with a license to do it! There are people out there struggling enough and don’t need this crap! They will call themselves «public Enforcement» but what are you Enforcing? A person who forgot to feed the meter 2 min. late? Just charge them the quarter or two instead! I’ve herd worst stories too, Like how they watch the parking spot run out of time and jump on it before the person returns to pay. The down-​town Bayside machines that eat your bills unless you pay a $ 6 minimum. A meter monster snuck up behind my wife, while still in the car standing in an empty spot with «no Sign» waiting for a car to leave up ahead, and slipped a ticket in the window, walked away without looking at her, or warning her! There are many better ways for the city to enforce public parking! The technology exists, but they are greedy thieves! Yes, they know the truth! «Public Parking» means free to all, no one owns it. The city should get rid of this all together, or use the new Satellite censor meters, that time you according to your stay until you leave. They should give us all back the quarters their 1,000 dollar meters eat every year! Its time to make a petition against this crappy institution! Read this for info about how wrong they are, this is fact

Advice: avoid meters as much as possible, go to places that supply parking or parking garages. It’s better to pay the lots 3 – 5 dollars than the meter vampires! The parking authority is a useless tool for the evolution or progress of society!
P. S. I forgot to mention. The day you Criminals Burn down, I will be there with half Miami roasting marshmallows over the fire!

Oh woe-​est MPA,
I know I often have reminded you how much I loathe you, but it seemed as though too much time had elapsed. 6 months and no update, tsk tsk on me.
On Friday, I spent $ 174 of my paycheck on you. And no, it wasn’t in that «I wanna buy you flowers because you’re the greatest» kind of way. No, it was in the «if I don’t pay this I can’t renew my tag» kind of way.
I have spent at LEAST over $ 1K this year in parking tickets alone. It’s not that I go out and say, «let me not pay the meter and see what happens». I actually DO pay the meters. My tickets have always happened RIGHT AFTER my meter or time expires. STOP LURKING. I HATE YOU. Like Drunken said: You are licensed criminals; extortionists even. BASTARDS.
And while I’m at it… Can you try to actually have WORKING meters?! Half the time they are out of order, with coins jammed into the machines. Which of course YOU TICKET PEOPLE FOR PARKING AT THESE METERS. It doesn’t matter to you that there’s no other choice for parking, all you care is that as long as that meter is broken, you can continue to ticket people that park there, therefore generating more revenue.
YOU SUCK @ LIFE.
With Disdain,
SabrinaAnna*

Tsk tsk tsk… you feed the meter. You go again and feed it — make sure you have plenty of money in it.
The store you are in has excessive delays so instead of returning with ½ hour to go on the meter, you get there a tad late. Ten minutes after the meter expires you are standing in front of your car, and it has a ticket. Was the Meter Maid standing there waiting for it to expire? Guess so.
So I could have not bothered feeding the meter at all and saved $ 4.

I have lived in Chicago and experienced horrible and overpriced parking; so when we moved back to Miami we were certainly more appreciative of the MIA Pkg Auth.
I know most reviews are one or two stars, but I’ve really never had trouble with Miami parking.
I love the new pay by phone services available. You call your time & location in, and about 15 minutes before your time is up, you get a text msg. notifying you, at which time (without returning to your car) you can add more time to the «meter». Neat!!!
Also, I think many people take for granted all the parking ticket machines throughout the city. I know the city could have more, but really, they’re everywhere, and they accept credit cards — which is a huge plus for me b/​c I never carry cash — it is hard to believe that there are still cities working with coin meters, and haven’t evolved into these machines or the call system.
So in thinking about all my driving and parking experiences within the city (and at times comparing it to that of other cities), I would honestly say that Miami Parking is A-​OK!

They’re trying.
Last week I was in Midtown and thanks to Ginger H I know this part of town is as good as being a nightmarish parking wasteland with few working meters and plenty of scary parking tickets ready to land on your windshield.
I have as of late become a fan of the Pay By Phone system. Yes, it charges a thirty-​five cent convenience fee but you can pay and not worry about machines working or change for the meters. Besides, they send you a text so you can add more time. Ah the beauty of comfort. Anyone can sign up for it by calling toll-​free, 866−990-PARK (7275) or visiting
.
I saw the Pay by Phone signs in Midtown but none of them had the 5 digit location number. I gave up and headed to an automated machine only to insert my cc and learn that the machine was out of order.
Hmmmm what’s a girl to do? Well, I decided to call for help. I called Pay By Phone, they told me to call the Miami Parking Authority. I did and got through to Aileen a really nice lady who tried to help me with the location number.
I did find another machine that worked however, Aileen mentioned that in situation like that one if there are no working machines AND no pay by phone option to communicate that to them.
We chatted about how I think that parking should be the same county wide and not broken down by cities. That way there could be county wide initiatives like the pay by phone option, a county wide parking pass, a monthly parking bill etc.
Did you know: No matter which of the cities in Dade you receive the parking citation in, the money goes to the county.

When I think of my least favorite of things, my top ten list consists of used car salesmen, getting ripped off, cops, meter maids, and paying for parking.
Don’t get me wrong, I understand the necessary evil of paid parking but the MPA takes it a little too far.
Let’s take the recent trend of putting a meter on any and all places one can consider «parking», like the dirt lots next to the Publix on 27^th ave which I affectionately call «No Parking Publix» because of the lack of enough spaces.
Or how about the variable rate parking spots under I-​95 next to Tutto Pasta?
The greed has gotten a little out of hand here and I think it’s bad for business. I think downtown Miami would be a lot more lively at night if you didn’t have to pay to park after 6pm. The city would make more money on sales tax then they’d ever get by charging for parking.
Coral Gables has got the right idea, they don’t charge for Sundays which means more business on an otherwise slow day.
Maybe we as Unilocalers can organize and change what we see as shortsighted ignorance and greed.

What Maria A. said.

I am so absolutely disgusted and embarrassed by the Miami Dade Parking Authority.
I brought a friend of mine to the Miami Goes Green event at Bayfront Park on Saturday and while she is not technically disabled, she has had a traffic accident and has had bits of her screwed together and has trouble walking distances on some days. Well shit… if I didn’t get to Bayfront Park public parking there under the People Mover along US1 and find that they were charging $ 20 where normally they have metered parking.
RAT BASTARDS
Seeing as how we were only going to be there for an hour or two there was no WAY me nor my friend were going to pay that. So we drove over to Bayfront shopping center parking garage and parked there for a flat rate of $ 10 and took our time wandering over to Bayfront Park and wandering back. Normally being faced with such extortion rates I would turn around and go home and spend my money closer to home but as I had a guest and my kids with me who were looking forward to attending the Miami Goes Green event we decided to look around and lucky enough Bayfront offered a more reasonable rate of parking.
Sucks to you Miami Parking Authority. You are shooting yourself in the foot charging exorbitant pricing for downtown parking especially when there is an event going on, and more importantly in this shitty economy when saving money is a priority for us common working folk.
The excuse apparently was that there was a Heat game on that night! We parked at noon… the Heat game was after 6p.m. HELOOOO!!!
Another Major Parking FAIL.
BOOO…

the miami parking authority is the reason why i defend the second amendment to the united states constitution.

Boooooooo, hissssssssss, boooooooo.
Where are the negative stars when you really need them?
Your machines near the Intercontinental are a total scam. Ninety percent of the time they don’t work, and when they do, they are so slow the people behind you are practically starting a riot while you stand there like a bumpkin waiting for your stupid slip. Your meters across the street from Bayfront Park charge a minimum of $ 3. Thanks, but I only needed to go somewhere for 30 minutes. My final straw was when I put change in your meters the other day and just as I was getting that last dime of my $ 2.50 in, it spit the whole lot of silver back out at me. And, like an idiot, I put the change in again, just to have it do the same thing. As Bush said, «Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice … «Ah, whatever. You’re just as bad as the people they issue drivers licenses to in this city.