According to an article in the New York Times, the Big Apple is taking on street parking spaces from local residents and giving them to companies like zip car. Of course the city wraps itself in its green credentials and its goal of providing transportation for all. Read the article on parknews.biz.
In midtown and downtown areas of Manhattan, the companies rent space from parking operators for their vehicles. Uptown, where lower income folks live, and there are fewer parking facilities, the city is taking on street parking space from the residents and giving it to zip car and co.
It seems to me that this is a classic case where the parking industry and transportation could work together to solve a transportation issue, and the city could stay out of the mix.
Its hard for me to believe that there are not 250 off street spaces uptown that could be used for this purpose rather than taking space from people who already have difficulty making ends meet and forcing them to pay for parking. The article notes that parking in NYC is a ‘blood sport’ and that the residents are grabbing pitchforks and torches in areas where the zip car program is taking on street space.
(Remember, service and customer support isn’t the goal here. The goal is to get people to give up their cars. And of course, the first group to be hit will be those who can least afford it.)
Although this is a small example, it’s a case where parking and transportation meet and where some thought and planning could make the process better for both. We can’t forget that our goal is to serve our customers (read that parkers) and make their lives better, not cause problems and create anger.
Of course, its not our industry that’s causing this problem, its the nincompoops in the city government.
Just sayin
JVH
