If you%26#39;re dropping someone off, or picking someone up at the Amtrak station at 800 NW 6th Ave in Portland, beware of which machine you get your parking receipt from.
On June 17th, I parked for about ten minutes while taking my mother to catch a train back to Wisconsin. Before leaving my car, I purchased a parking receipt from the machine right in front of my car.
After my mother boarded her train, I got back to my car, and while I was preparing to drive away, a parking lot attendant came over and started writing me a ticket. I waved my parking receipt at him.
He told me that the parking receipt I purchased was from the city%26#39;s onstreet parking machine. The ticket says %26#39;City of Portland%26#39;, but does not say anything about on street parking.
He goes on to say that the parking lot I%26#39;m in, right across from the main entrance of the station, is privately owned, and that is not the correct machine to purchase a parking receipt from.
I%26#39;m not sure how I was supposed to know that the parking lot I was in was privately owned, nor how I was supposed to tell that I got my receipt from the wrong machine. It was right in front of my car.
He did NOT offer to let me purchase the correct receipt. I tried to do the right thing, and got a $28 ticket in return.
It seems like a nice little scam to me. The city gets paid for a a parking spot that wasn%26#39;t used, and the private parking lot owner gets a nice $28 parking ticket income instead of whatever his machine would have charged me.
Beware so you don%26#39;t get bitten, too.
Chris Shaker
Beware of parking near Portland Union Station
Maybe this will help ..
portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm鈥?/a>
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