A Round and a Roundy: The Gods Have Spoken: ‘Pay for Parking’

Cartoon: Bill Roundy
Cartoon: Bill Roundy

City & State NY is hosting a full day New York in Transit summit on Jan. 30 at the Museum of Jewish Heritage. This summit will bring together experts to assess the current state of New York’s transportation systems, break down recent legislative actions, and look towards the future of all things coming and going in New York. Join Keynote Speaker Polly Trottenberg, commissioner of the NYC Department of Transportation, along with agency leaders, elected officials, and advocates. Use the code STREETSBLOG for a 25-percent discount when you RSVP here!

Editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy
Editorial cartoonist Bill Roundy

Free parking is a psychosis. Urban residents who don’t really even need cars end up buying them anyway, emboldened by the subsidized free space the city gives them at the curb. And then, when the city changes — Fresh Direct trucks! Same-day deliveries! Bike lanes! Garbage bags filling the sidewalks! — those car owners refuse to give up the public space they’ve commandeered for free so that our streets remain safe and livable.

Cartoonist Bill Roundy has had enough of the hypocrisy. In today’s toon, he shows that even the Parking Gods are smart enough to realize that unfettered free parking is not sustainable. Yet car drivers are willing to sacrifice anything to hold onto their entitlement.

It’s a hot take you’ll see only in Streetsblog.

Bill Roundy’s weekly cartoons are archived here.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Shoup to O’Toole: The Market for Parking Is Anything But Free

By Streetsblog |
We’re reprinting this reply [PDF] from UCLA professor Donald Shoup, author of the High Cost of Free Parking, to Randal O’Toole, the libertarian Cato Institute senior fellow who refuses to acknowledge the role of massive government intervention in the market for parking, and the effect this has had on America’s car dependence. It’s an excellent […]

Parking Reform: Reduce Congestion & Raise Money Minus Albany

By Aaron Naparstek |
With congestion pricing stalled in Albany gridlock, what’s next? What immediate measures can New York City take to reduce traffic congestion without having to go through Albany to implement them? How else might New York City reduce traffic congestion while raising a bit of money for transit, bicycling and pedestrian improvements? Back in May, Transportation […]

Hoboken Launches First Citywide Car-Sharing Program in U.S.

By Noah Kazis |
Today marks the launch of what Hoboken officials are calling the first citywide car-sharing initiative in the country, with 42 shared cars parked on the streets of the mile-square city. The "Corner Cars" program, which is intended to reduce car-ownership rates, could provide a model for expanding car-sharing across the Hudson. What happens in Hoboken […]