PORT CANAVERAL, Fla. — Big changes may be on the way in how parking is handled at Port Canaveral. A parking consultant has stepped in after WFTV first showed a controversial parking video that bashed several local businesses.
Officials are now trying to figure out new ways to compete with off-site parking lots.
One idea could change parking rates at the port on a daily basis depending on how many cars are in the lot, the same way airlines change their fees based on how many seats are filled.
One out of every four passengers getting on a cruise ship at Port Canaveral is now parking a car at an off-site parking lot. The prices are a fraction of the $15 per day the port charges.
After the backlash from a port video designed to scare passengers away from off-site parking, the port is considering new methods to draw drivers back.
A consultant has recommended upgrading the gates and payment systems within the port's parking lots and adding on-line reservations to lock in potential customers before they see offers from the port's new competitors.
The consultant even recommended varying parking rates with more expensive parking in garages and closer to terminals.
Commissioners said which, if any, of the recommendations will be implemented hasn't been decided.
Parking raises millions of dollars a year for the port. Ninety percent of parking revenue is profit.
But whether new strategies to stem the flow to outside parking businesses works remains to be seen.
How the port handles shuttles from outside parking lots is also still on the table. Right now, passengers are charged a fee per trip, which is hundreds of dollars a week for many of the off-site parking businesses.
WFTV
