Stowe Paid Parking Wknd Holidays

TomWhite

Stowe Mountain Resort
@stowemountainresort ·
4.6 (1,185 reviews) · Ski Resort

Stowe Mountain Resort
18h ·
A letter from the GM:
I’m Bobby Murphy, general manager here at Stowe Mountain Resort, and I’d like to share an update on a topic that’s been on a lot of people’s minds this season.
We are proud to be a popular destination for skiing and riding, but we recognize that traffic is a key challenge. I’ve been asked what we can do to improve the flow of guests into and out of the resort. What can we do to help reduce traffic congestion, increase carpooling, and increase the use of public transit to the resort? How can our operations help change behavior? In response to this, Stowe Mountain Resort will implement a new parking plan for the 2022-23 winter season which includes free and paid parking, new payment strategies and special incentives for those who choose to carpool.
Parking will remain free at all lots Monday through Thursday during non-holiday periods, and at all lots after 2pm. Paid parking will be implemented Friday through Sunday and holidays at all lots, except at the Cross Country Center and Toll House area lots which will remain free seven days a week. Free parking will also be offered at all times in all lots to cars arriving with four or more guests, which we hope encourages carpooling. Additionally, payment can be made via a smartphone app or on-site kiosks to help ensure faster, more efficient parking, especially at our busiest times.
By encouraging more people to use public transport, carpool or visit during non-peak times, we hope to move congestion off of the two-lane road leading to the resort and from our main lots.
In addition, we are ramping up our partnership with Green Mountain Transit, with proceeds from our paid parking going toward additional buses and capacity as well as toward our own resort shuttle system to improve public transportation in and around the resort.
We thank you for your understanding as we strive to create smoother arrivals and departures at our resort. We’ll be releasing additional details about the plan soon.
Thank you,
Bobby

lotsoskiing

I actually like the idea of rewarding people for carpooling. Will make the high school parking lot a popular place for people to leave cars!

tedede

Beast Patroller

Yeah that's a great idea so long as you have friends or family that ski. My wife & I ski but our friends & family don't! So how do we save on parking, pick up strangers on our way to Stowe?

Chuckstah

Beast Patroller;c-55430 wroteYeah that's a great idea so long as you have friends or family that ski. My wife & I ski but our friends & family don't! So how do we save on parking, pick up strangers on our way to Stowe?

Grab a couple of randoms at the bus stop 🤔😀

Beast Patroller

Chuckstah;c-55431 wrote
Beast Patroller;c-55430 wroteYeah that's a great idea so long as you have friends or family that ski. My wife & I ski but our friends & family don't! So how do we save on parking, pick up strangers on our way to Stowe?
Grab a couple of randoms at the bus stop 🤔😀

Only if they buy the beers afterwards. :D

joshua_segal

As long as the facilities of Stowe on weekends continues to exceed their capacity, I think methods to increase their revenues while decreasing the number of customers is a good one.

I see this as a "supply and demand" problem.

rickbolger

joshua_segal;c-55433 wrote
I see this as a "supply and demand" problem.

Mr. Rose Colored Glasses! :p

The problem is they're getting heat from the town, state, or whatever. They wouldn't care otherwise; see Park City, Keystone, Breckenridge, etc. which have traffic jams stretching for miles -- and they already have paid parking, carpooling perks, you name it. Hasn't solved a darn thing other than the problem of how else can we ~~increase revenue~~ improve the amazing customer experience.

Same old same old.

If it is a supply-and-demand problem, it's one they intentionally created by ramping up demand to exceed what they had to sell. The grief from traffic jams just gives them an opening to ratchet up the fees. Also intentional?

I see this as an "emperor has no clothes" problem ;) ;) ;)

trackbiker

Vail's business model is to sell a lot of cheap passes so they can make money on food, rentals, lessons, lodging, parking....
Why would anyone be surprised when they charge for parking at as many areas as they can?

Cannonball

joshua_segal;c-55433 wroteAs long as the facilities of Stowe on weekends continues to exceed their capacity, I think methods to increase their revenues while decreasing the number of customers is a good one.

I see this as a "supply and demand" problem.

Yes, the problem is "supply and demand". But this is a wealth-based solution. Skiing is already a financially exclusive sport. This 'solution' accentuates it. Wealthy people won't mind the cost to park and they will appreciate the decrease in other customers. It's a slippery slope towards a private/exclusive ski area.

I don't think that wealth-based exclusivity is healthy for long-term viability of the sport (I could certainly be wrong). There are plenty of other ways that they could have solved the excess demand problem without a wealth-based solution.

tedede

It used to be a slippery slope. You do realize it was $2300+ for a 2016 season pass at Stowe before Vail bought them?

You tax things you want to discourage. This is a tax on cars, not skiers, as there are two options for free parking: increased distance or increase utilization.

JimK

As you guys know, in Utah two resorts are very effectively using paid parking to throttle crowding, Alta and Solitude. This winter it has worked very well for them and season pass holders at both resorts are very happy with the results. Less snow than normal also helped ease parking shortage. I'm afraid pay parking is the wave of the future for busy ski areas to add profits and also manage parking shortages.

JimK

JimK;c-55472 wroteAs you guys know, in Utah two resorts are very effectively using paid parking to throttle crowding, Alta and Solitude. This winter it has worked very well for them and season pass holders at both resorts are very happy with the results. Less snow than normal also helped ease parking shortage. I'm afraid pay parking is the wave of the future for busy ski areas to add profits and also manage parking shortages.

For the record, I prefer lots of free parking and the early bird gets the worm model.

UPDATE, PCMR just announced paid parking for all surface lots on the PC side of the resort in 2022-23.

Cannonball

tedede;c-55470 wrote
You tax things you want to discourage.

First of all, that's just not true. Income tax isn't meant to discourage income. Property tax isn't meant to discourage property ownership. Sales tax isn't meant to discourage purchasing.

But that's irrelevant because paid parking isn't a tax it's a fee. Just as a lift ticket or a season pass is a fee. It's like saying that charging for tickets & passes is meant to discourage skiing. They charge to make a profit selling their product. Which is fine. Now their also trying to sell the product of parking spaces. Which is also fine, since it's their property they can do what they want. But overall it's at a detriment to the sport because it accentuates the economic exclusivity of skiing. Short term gain, long term loss.

joshua_segal

Cannonball;c-55485 wrote
tedede;c-55470 wrote
You tax things you want to discourage.
... It's like saying that charging for tickets & passes is meant to discourage skiing.

Let me try the analogy of modern turnpikes charging more for Express Lanes during peak hours. It's intended to do the following:
1. Reduce mountain/highway traffic during peak hours
2. Increase revenue for those willing to pay for peak hours

NewEnglandSkier13

joshua_segal;c-55490 wrote
Cannonball;c-55485 wrote
tedede;c-55470 wrote
You tax things you want to discourage.
... It's like saying that charging for tickets & passes is meant to discourage skiing.
Let me try the analogy of modern turnpikes charging more for Express Lanes during peak hours. It's intended to do the following:
1. Reduce mountain/highway traffic during peak hours
2. Increase revenue for those willing to pay for peak hours

Also notice that those are something we don't have in New England. And that's not a great analogy because driving to work is not a leisure activity

joshua_segal

NewEnglandSkier13;c-55493 wrote
joshua_segal;c-55490 wrote
Cannonball;c-55485 wrote
tedede;c-55470 wrote
You tax things you want to discourage.
... It's like saying that charging for tickets & passes is meant to discourage skiing.
Let me try the analogy of modern turnpikes charging more for Express Lanes during peak hours. It's intended to do the following:
1. Reduce mountain/highway traffic during peak hours
2. Increase revenue for those willing to pay for peak hours
Also notice that those are something we don't have in New England. And that's not a great analogy because driving to work is not a leisure activity

OK, Sam: Do you prefer this? Some electric companies will give a reduced rates for using things such as Washer/Driers in non-peak hours. It's not a matter of recreation or getting to work. It's a matter of using reduced prices in non-peak hours (or higher prices in peak hours) to distribute demand.

tedede

@Cannonball remind me again how cutting reducing a season pass from $2300 to $800 is a slippery slope accentuating the economic exclusivity of skiing?

Cannonball

tedede;c-55503 wrote@Cannonball remind me again how cutting reducing a season pass from $2300 to $800 is a slippery slope accentuating the economic exclusivity of skiing?

I'll leave that one to you, since you've said twice now but I have never mentioned it.

tedede

So you'll just ignore the fact Vail has made skiing at Stowe approachable to the average skier by gutting Stowe's elite pricing while complaining it they are not by asking some to pay for parking. I get it. Let's not let actual facts get in the way of your argument.