AFTER YEARS of talk and false starts, the city's Parking Authority is finally operational. Its first task: evaluate 13 existing garages.
That topic has been surveyed before. John Carroll Weiss III, the $100,000-a-year executive director of the new agency, should quickly move to such tasks as figuring out how to free more spaces for visitors coming downtown to conduct business.
Finding a space in a hurry is impossible because all garages are full of commuters with long-term contracts. That doesn't make any sense at all.
The Little Italy-Fells Point-Canton crescent also warrants the authority's attention. Much additional parking is needed.
Yet another important task is figuring out where all the tour buses will be parked when properties currently in use as lots are developed.