While New York City is just beginning to revamp its 1950s-era parking policy, three other U.S. cities are leaping ahead by using higher metered rates, new technology and innovative new laws to cut traffic congestion. A new report released today, Pricing the Curb, shows how Chicago, San Francisco and Washington D.C. are all changing the way they charge and manage parking meters as a traffic reduction tool.

Each of these cities is raising the price of curbside parking to ensure one vacant space is available on every block in order to eliminate the need to "cruise" for parking, which contributes to 45% of some traffic on NYC streets. The report recommends the following best practices be implemented here in NYC:

• Chicago, Illinois: Use state-of-the-art parking meters that monitor parking space availability and adjust rates to ensure an open space on every block.
• Washington, D.C.: Return the additional revenue raised at meters to the streets where money is collected in the form of benches, street trees, bike lanes, pedestrian plazas and better bus service.
• San Francisco, California: Promote transit-oriented development with an inventory all off-street parking and by converting current minimum parking requirements to maximum parking allowances.

"When New York City raises five-times more money from parking tickets than from parking meters, you know our parking policy is broken," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "Opening up spaces at the curb will save drivers the time and increasing expense of cruising for an elusive space, and benefit all New Yorkers by cutting congestion."

"Storefront parking, the quality of sidewalks, the availability of street furniture, the grade of bike facilities, the presence of real-time bus information are all related," says Washington D.C. Council Member Tommy Wells, the capital's leading proponent of parking reform. "If we under-price parking, we not only get curbside inefficiencies, but we also give up a resource for getting the other things that make that street more vibrant and accessible."

The full report is available online at: transalt.org/files/newsroom/reports/pricing_the_curb.pdf

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