I may be mistaken, but to be completely fair I think that a lot of the friction discussed here was triggered by pandemic safety protocols. Look, I get it. As I mentioned, when I lived in the Bay Area I, too, enjoyed the ease and flexibility of the walk-in permit system (it did require the extra day off that Bob noted, however, at least for me). For me at least, this discussion is a lot like the roll-out of New Coke back in the 80's. The old Coke was gone and never coming back, so there was not much point in talking about it.
Thank you, Steve, for the update and feedback, especially about the Inyo staff keeping an eye on posts made here. With that in mind, what if we made it easier for them and started a brainstorm/wish list here (cut and paste most current list into a new post)? A couple of items that come to mind to me personally would be:
- No need to confirm reservations because of...
- ...an automated reminder, perhaps 72 hours prior to a trip, with an easy one-click cancellation button.
- A virtual permit retrieval process...
- ...and an automatic reservation cancellation process for permits not retrieved by a deadline, 24 to 36 hours before a trip.
- The availability of cancelled permits for a "walk-in" process that is both in person and online.
- Any features that would free staff up to troubleshoot, answer the phone, etc.
One big problem with the current and former iterations was the reliance on people to confirm or cancel reservations, or even permits (plans do fall apart at the last moment). Addressing this would help everyone.
Just my thoughts, trying to help. I know that most if not all of you have much more experience the walk-in system, and there is more than a little bit of a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" aspect to this. That said, the absence of an outcry for change is not necessarily the best indicator that people were happy.
