cwlumm's Comments

Proposed Move NY Fair Plan Legislation | Closed Proposal

cwlumm's picture
cwlumm
1

You aren't being penalized for owning cars. The space those cars take up is heavily subsidized by the public. For comparison, a square foot of the Empire State Building gift shop costs over $830 a month, but an entire 250 sq ft parking spot a few feet away would be lucky to make the city $300 a month. Why does city land somehow become hundreds of times less important or valuable when you need to store your car?

cwlumm's picture
cwlumm
2

This is a good start, but New York needs dynamic parking prices along with Parking Benefit Districts. Donald Shoup et al - as well as the city of San Francisco and others - have shown that dynamic pricing that adjusts to maintain 85% occupancy helps make sure everyone who needs parking can get it, and having a PBD ensures that the money raised goes to the local neighborhood.

cwlumm's picture
cwlumm
3

Residential parking permit systems have a lot of problems (witness DC, where there's a vigorous private market for permits) and every time I've brought them up in NYC, I've been told that they'll never happen.Taxing monthly parking fees is a start, but it'll hit garages hard, and keep people cruising for free or virtually free on-street spots. In concert with this tax rise, what is the city going to do that will reduce the cruising behaviors that create ~70% of NYC traffic? I think anything that raises parking prices in the city is probably a good thing, but the focus should perhaps be on-street, not off; the city has way more control there anyway.

cwlumm's picture
cwlumm
4

The state could require any congressional district (or, better yet, each voter precinct) over a certain level of density to offer citizens in that district the option to institute dynamic parking with state funds. Increased parking revenue in the PBD can be used to institute immediate amenities, like free Wifi/parklets/better street cleaning, and a portion gets used to pay the state back gradually. It can function like a neighborhood-level loan from the state, but PBDs stand to reduce congestion, asthma rates, and car fatality rates, which all have economic impacts, too. And if precincts don't want it, they can just say no. I know state transportation funds are hotly contested, but I don't see how at least offering crowded neighborhoods the choice hurts anyone besides creating a bit of money-shuffling in the short term.

cwlumm's picture
cwlumm
5

Plenty of interests inside NYC believe in this plan (as do I). This isn't "another tax on New Yorkers." It's a first step toward making drivers pay for their own chosen method of transportation, instead of everyone else doing that for you (as we all do). You're operating on the assumption that roads don't have to be income-generating in the way that the MTA does. That's unfair, and *I'm* tired of paying higher consumer prices so *you* can sit in your car. If you don't like paying to drive, join the rest of us in other methods of transportation - you'll be more than welcome!