New York City to introduce variable parking meter rates

New York City is planning to introduce variable parking meter rates in parts of Manhattan and Brooklyn, beginning in October. On certain congested corridors, the city will double the rates charged by the meters during heavy traffic periods. The goal is to open up some curbside parking spaces so that drivers will spend less time cruising in search of available spaces. If the six-month test succeeds, the program may be expanded to other areas, The New York Times reported July 10. On Columbus Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, a study found that drivers wasted more than 50,000 hours a year circling for parking spots. The advocacy group Transportation Alternatives said drivers cruised 366,000 miles a year, wasting $130,000 in fuel and spewing out 325 tons of carbon dioxide. In a similar quest to cut down on cruising for parking spots, San Francisco intends to install sensors in some of its streets. The sensors will communicate with parking meters and determine how many parking spaces in a particular area are occupied. When the vacancy level is low, meter rates would go up. The pilot program, SFpark, managed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, would cover about a quarter of the city’s 24,000 metered spaces. The goal would be to maintain an 85 percent occupancy rate, consistent with the parking ideas of UCLA planning professor Donald Shoup, author of The High Cost of Free Parking.