Parking Reforms Cut Congestion, So When Will DOT Get Serious About Them?

Earlier this month City Council transportation chair Ydanis Rodriguez convened a hearing on city parking policy. The committee addressed abuse of DOT- and NYPD-issued parking placards, but did not discuss one of the most promising initiatives in the city tool kit.

PARK Smart is a program that increases parking rates on certain blocks at times when demand is highest. It has proven successful in cutting congestion, but technological advancements such as pay-by-phone and a dynamic payment structure would make it even more effective.

DOT launched PARK Smart in Greenwich Village and Park Slope in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Community board opposition prompted the agency to spike parking reforms on the Upper East Side. The most recent PARK Smart expansions came in 2013, with pilot programs in Jackson Heights and on Atlantic Avenue.

Streetsblog reached out to DOT concerning the future of PARK Smart. A department spokesperson indicated that additional parking reform proposals may be forthcoming, but gave no specifics:

“The NYC Department of Transportation is moving toward the development of a more comprehensive management plan for the metered parking environment. The Park Smart initiative will seek to develop a toolbox of approaches to improve the operation and utility of the curb, as well as programs and policies that are more reflective of neighborhood demand and character. Over the course of the next year, NYC DOT will be collecting parking metrics in neighborhoods across the city to build parking profiles which may influence changes that NYC DOT may make in the near future to parking rates and regulations.”

With Governor Cuomo showing no interest in bridge toll reform, innovative parking policy is probably the best means the city has to reduce traffic congestion along its busiest commercial corridors.