In order to increase revenues, an airport plans to change the parking

Ok. So the Argument core is - Changing the parking lot hourly rate will generate more revenue ( Based on the Question stem).

Earlier- First 2 hours for 2$
Now- 4$ for first four hours

If this has to be true then clearly assumption should be that most cars do not park for more than 2 hours and thus that space will be again filled by a new car . Thus in 4 hours they can have 8 $ which 100% more than earlier one.

That is the assumption here.

Only A fits our prethinking

Our objective is to evaluate whether the plan would be successful & choose an option which suggests that it will be successful.


(A) Very few people who park their cars at the hourly parking lot at the airport leave their cars for more than two hours at a time.

This will suggest that the plan will be successful as in first case only $2 will be colllected but in second case $4 will be collected.

(B) Over the past several years, the cost to the airport of operating its hourly parking facilities has been greater than the revenues it has received from them.

We are not concerned about the cost or profits and just want to evaluate the plan of increasing the revenue.

(C) People who leave their cars at the airport while on a trip generally park their cars in lots that charge by the day rather than by the hour.

We are concerned with increasing revenue at the hourly parking lot so this is not relevant.

(D) A significant portion of the money spent to operate the airport parking lot is spent to maintain the facilities rather than to pay the salaries of the personnel who collect the parking fees.
Irrelevant

(E) The hourly parking lots at the airport have recently been expanded and are therefore rarely filled to capacity.
Whether it's filled to capacity or not, we need to know whether the revenue gets increased from the new plan with the existing capacity.

Old charges: $2 for the first two hours + $1 per hour for each additional hour thereafter.

New charges: $4 for the first four hours + $1 per hour for each additional hour thereafter.

For the new charges to bring in additional revenue, the number of users should remain relatively stable (who use the parking slot for at least 4 hours) or the number of users should increase.


(A) Very few people who park their cars at the hourly parking lot at the airport leave their cars for more than two hours at a time. This indicates that the vast majority of the parking slot users use these slots for a maximum of 2 hours and not more. if 'X' is the number of users who use the parking slot for only two hours, then the revenue generated under the old charges would be '$2X'. With the new charges, the revenue generated from 'X' number of parking slot users would be '$4X'. this proves that the new charges do bring additional revenue. Hence, (A) is the right answer.

(B) Over the past several years, the cost to the airport of operating its hourly parking facilities has been greater than the revenues it has received from them. - this has no relation with whether the new charges would bring in more revenue. hence, eliminate (B)

(C) People who leave their cars at the airport while on a trip generally park their cars in lots that charge by the day rather than by the hour. - Do people use the parking slots for the entire day or only for a few hours? Without this understanding, it will be impossible to tell whether more revenue can be brought in by changing the rate. Moreover, this option literally tells us "where people park their cars" and has no bearing on the new $4 charge plan. Hence, eliminate (C)

(D) A significant portion of the money spent to operate the airport parking lot is spent to maintain the facilities rather than to pay the salaries of the personnel who collect the parking fees. - irrelevant to the topic of discussion. hence, eliminate (D)

(E) The hourly parking lots at the airport have recently been expanded and are therefore rarely filled to capacity. - this does not tell us whether the revenue increases or decrease, after the implementation of the new plan. For example :Say that there are 100 frequent users of airport parking slots, who use the slot for 2 hours on average. After expansion, the airport parking can now accommodate 200 cars.

Under the old parking charges, the revenue would have been $200. under the new charge plan, $400 would have been the revenue.

But what if the number of frequent users dropped after the new plan was implemented? This would certainly signal a decrease in revenue, NOT an increase.

Since (E) leaves a lot of room for speculation, (E) is not a solid answer choice. Hence, eliminate (E)

HI

Usually we consider very few means hardly any. A few means some. This question indicates that only little revenue would be increased. But I think, the argument is not in the right spirit of thought. Usually business don't make strategies for a very few /hardly any numbers.

What do others think ?

Suppose, a person parked his car for four hours
Old PMT system: $2 for the 1st two hours+ $1*next 2 hours= $4
New PMT system: $4.00 for the first four-hour period= $4
we can see, the goal of increasing revenue is not achieved in this case. Now come to the option A


(A) Very few people who park their cars at the hourly parking lot at the airport leave their cars for more than two hours at a time.
-> Very few= hardly any people park their car .. for more than two hours at a time. So, Max parking hour =2
-> Old PMT: $2 for the first two hours = $2
-> New PMT: $4 for the first four-hour period ( even if a person parks his car for 1 hour, he has to pay $4 under this new system) = $4

Therefore, the company will earn revenue $2 under this new system.

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