Incentives Help Free Spaces for Holiday Shoppers : Galleria Workers Using Remote Parking

Incentives ranging from free lottery tickets to chances to win a weekend trip for two to San Francisco are being offered to employees of Glendale Galleria in an effort to reduce holiday traffic jams around the shopping mall.

Alberta Davidson, Galleria marketing director, said mall employees are eligible to win lottery tickets if they use a 3,000-space parking lot at the Los Angeles Zoo, about 1 1/2 miles away. Also, each time an employee rides a free shuttle bus to and from the remote lot, he gets a chance to win the San Francisco trip, she said.

Three merchant-sponsored buses provide continuous transportation to the remote lot.

The program is designed to free spaces in the mall’s 6,800-stall parking garages for use by shoppers.

Davidson said the license numbers of 10 cars parked at the remote lot are selected daily and the drivers are awarded a lottery ticket.

The incentives have enticed about 80% of the mall’s 3,000 department store employees to use the remote lot. Smaller remote lots around the mall are used by about 2,000 employees of other businesses in the mall, she said.

Shuttle for Customers

Downtown merchants and the city also are offering incentives to encourage holiday shoppers to use the Beeline shuttle service.

Kerry Morford, city traffic specialist, said shuttle riders can receive free bus tokens, gifts or discounts on purchases if they show their shuttle receipt to participating merchants in the downtown area and at the Galleria information booth.

Shoppers also can park free at the city’s Civic Center garage, at Wilson and Glendale avenues, weekdays after 5 p.m. and on weekends. Shoppers can board a shuttle bus near the garage to ride to the Galleria and other downtown areas.

The shuttle operates every day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through the end of December; service normally ends at 6 p.m. weekdays and is not offered on weekends. Free shuttle service will be offered from Sunday to Dec. 14 to mark the first-year anniversary of the city-subsidized Beeline service, Morford said. The normal shuttle fare is 25 cents.

Holiday Traffic

Ken Johnson, city traffic engineer, said traffic around the Galleria is 15% to 20% above year-round averages, but planners hope delays will be reduced significantly from last year. Drivers were stalled up to 30 minutes last year, searching for parking spaces at the mall. Johnson said he hopes delays will be reduced to no more than 15 minutes this year.

Davidson said about 50 parking and traffic attendants from Contemporary Parking Services, the firm that handled traffic during the Los Angeles Olympics, have been assigned to keep motorists moving at the Galleria. Reserve police officers also are being used to direct traffic during peak shopping hours, Johnson said.