Jul 10, 2008 7:49 pm US/Eastern
Bloomberg Set To Unveil 'Congestion Parking'
Preview: Imagine Paying Double What You Already Pay
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
The Legislature may have put the brakes on congestion pricing, but the Bloomberg administration has come up with a new way to help unclog the streets in neighborhood business districts.
It's a plan some are calling congestion parking.
If parking meters could talk they would soon be saying feed me, feed me, feed me over and over. As much as 10 quarters an hour, $2.50 for 60 minutes. That's double what it is now.
"We like to call it peak rate parking and the idea is to reduce the cruising in neighborhoods, the double parking we see in neighborhoods and improve the mobility of traffic," Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said.
The experimental plan is expected to double meter rates during heavy traffic periods in residential business areas. It will either be between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. or noon to 3 p.m. The goal is that there will be a higher turnover of metered spots, making it easier to park.
"Everybody knows we're in gridlock right now," Sadik-Khan said. "I mean there's a huge issue in terms of capacity on the streets. I mean we have to bring new tools to address congestion."
For now the program will be tested in just two neighborhoods. In Greenwich Village it will run from Houston to Charles and include portions of Sixth and Seventh avenues. In the Midwood section of Brooklyn it will be in effect on Kings Highway from Ocean Avenue to Coney Island Avenue.
"It's a good idea," Roy Wilde of Dyker Heights said.
Gustavo Lagrave of Greenwich, Conn., didn't dismiss the idea, but said it does inconvenience a lot of people.
"You can't just go into a store and say, 'Hey can you change my $10 into quarters?' Because nobody is going to do that, so you got to plan for it and get your quarters," Lagrave said. "And now you have to have double."
Others aren't too wild about the idea.
"Now I'll be taking the train in," Ellen Protopapadakis said.
Then again, that's precisely what the Bloomberg administration wants.
"If you've got the ability to take the train and that's an easier way to go, we think that's good," Sadik-Khan said.
Transportation officials say the pilot will last for six months and if it works well the meters that charge more during high peak hours could be coming to a neighborhood near you.
Sadik-Khan said she's already heard from communities in Brooklyn and the Bronx who want to try congestion parking in their neighborhoods.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Top Secret: Military Jets
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
Comments