Every year I think about this, but have yet to follow up. So this is the year (with your help)!  I know there are lots of great ideas out there about how parking programs can integrate holiday promotions into their operations, but I have never seen them collected anywhere. Let’s start this year!

I will throw out a few examples and let’s see if we start building a library of holiday parking practices to share with our colleagues.  Here are a few ideas to get the sleigh sliding:

• Houston Airport decorates their parking gate arms like candy canes.

 

• Both the Lexington Parking Authority and the Fort Collins Parking Services department allow customers to pay outstanding citations with cans of food that are donated to local food programs.

 

• A few years ago, the Downtown Boulder Inc. (DBI) collected citations from customer vehicle windshields and replaced them with the following note:

PS – DBI paid the citations to the tune of approximately $6,000.

• Some shopping malls play Christmas music over speakers in their parking lots.

 

• Some downtown districts offer free parking during the holidays to attract customers.

 

• Some parking programs, downtown associations, and shopping malls sponsor holiday banners on the streets and in parking lots to promote the holiday season.

Now it’s your turn.  What other holiday parking ideas can we come up with? List them in the comments. And happy holidays!