NYC Dedicating Carshare Spots Will Make Parking Much Harder

As if parking in New York City wasn’t already an absolute nightmare, the city is now implementing a program to make dedicated carshare parking spots.

As someone who lives in one of the boroughs of New York City, Brooklyn to be exact, this story really pained me. When I first saw the news of it, I was hoping that it was a fake news source and just a joke – late April Fool’s maybe? However, the more I looked into it, the more I realized that this nightmare is a reality for us New Yorkers now – even if just a pilot program for now.

So what exactly is going on? Well, the Department of Transportation (DOT) is launching a two-year test program for dedicated carshare parking spots. This means that only those in car-sharing vehicles like Enterprise and Zipcars will be able to park there. For all others, these spots will be a “No Standing Anytime” zone.

Program Details

The program, scheduled to start on Monday, will designate 309 parking spaces for carshare companies that give its members short-term access to a vehicle. This will include 285 sports reserved for Enterprise and Zipcar on streets in certain local neighborhoods and in municipal lots. Starting June 4th, users will be able to access the vehicles from those marked spots.

Private car owners should not test the signs, as the carshare brands have already been granted permission to tow unauthorized vehicles in their designated spots.

If you don’t live in New York City, those numbers may not seem so daunting to you. Though, in a city where spot-saving and fighting over parking is an everyday occurrence, it is a lot.

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg explained the

strategy,

saying:

"“We have targeted two kinds of neighborhoods where we think the pilot could really have a positive effect.  First, in transit-rich neighborhoods where cars are only driven occasionally, we think inexpensive and convenient carshare could encourage owners to sell their car or not buy a new one, thereby freeing up more parking for drivers who need it.“And in less-transit dense neighborhoods, carshare could add a travel option for car-free households or those who may now find car ownership unaffordable.  Either way, we encourage New Yorkers to give carshare a try and let us know what they think.”"

To many New Yorkers, all of the mayor’s latest traffic doings and such are only making this city worse and less favorable to live in. I really hope this doesn’t take on a similar end result. I’ve lived here all my life and the streets, potholes, speed bumps, unsynchronized lights and the likes are making it miserable to even do daily errands. Guess we will have to wait and see. I will try to keep you updated if I see any major changes.

Next: Caught On Dash Cam: This Family’s NYC Parking Cheat Exposed

Check out the video below from the Department of Transportation outlining the two-year citywide pilot program.

The goal of this program is to have fewer cars on the road and less congestion. But, will that really work? Or rather, will it cause more havoc in the city and chaos when looking for parking. Sound off in the comment section below and let us know your thoughts.

I think it will be the latter and am not looking forward to it. Hopefully, I won’t have to come across these spots in the areas that I frequent.