Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
City Council

City Council Parking Giveaway Will Bring More Gridlock

New Yorkers could spend a third of a million more hours a
year stuck in traffic if the “grace period” for parking violations voted
by the City Council
this week becomes law.

3672447574_f6f7a69255.jpgPhoto: @10/Flickr

That’s what the Balanced Transportation
Analyzer
traffic-pricing model calculates, based on an assumed 10 percent drop in
issuance of parking tickets. While no one knows just how many fewer tickets
will be issued (none of the 47 council members voting aye on Intro
907
offered a guess), the manifold repercussions for enforcement — a narrower time window,
greater complexity, general undermining of traffic agents — suggest that a one-tenth
drop isn’t unreasonable.

Worsened gridlock follows automatically from making curbside
parking cheaper. The lessened likelihood of being served a parking ticket can
be expected to draw more auto trips into Manhattan
and around town as well. The added congestion isn’t huge; most car trips not made are on account of other
factors, and only a tenth of all parking tickets are being assumed away. But the
impact will be visible.

Most of the estimated 334,000 hours lost, around 85 percent, will come from drivers outside the Manhattan Central Business District, putting an ironic stamp on
Council Member Tish James’ reminder to
the mayor
that his narrow re-election was “a call from average New Yorkers
for relief.”

Note: Readers who want
to check the analysis in the BTA should head to the Parking worksheet, a dozen tabs from the back.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

NYPD Admits Bike Crackdown Based on ‘Community’ Vibes, Not Data

It turns out, the new strategy arose not from data, but from people complaining about e-bikes at community meetings, the NYPD finally admits.

Pain Points: Victims of Road Violence Make Annual Pilgrimage to Demand Safe Streets

“This epidemic is preventable,” a grieving dad said on his first trip to Albany as part of Families for Safe Streets. “It doesn't have to be this way.”

May 14, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines: Top of the Pops Edition

A new battery-swapping cabinet shows the way forward. Plus other news.

May 14, 2025

Police Chase Linked to Fatal Hit-and-Run in Bronx

Kelvin Mitchell a father of three, was killed by a speeding driver apparently trying to escape police.

May 14, 2025

AG James Sues Trump Over ‘Strong-Arm’ Tactic of Tying DOT Funds to Immigration Crackdown

The U.S. Department of Transportation is illegally threatening to withhold billions in transportation funding to states that don't "cooperate" with the administration's immigration crackdown, a new suit argues.

May 13, 2025
See all posts