The city is setting aside 309 parking spots for car-sharing vehicles from Zipcar and Enterprise starting on Monday — including 230 on the street, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday.
Each of the spots, where vehicles part of the 2-year pilot program will be picked up and dropped off, are scattered across neighborhoods in all boroughs except Staten Island — including Parkchester in the Bronx, the eastern Rockaways in Queens and Morningside Heights in Manhattan.
In addition to the street spaces, 55 spots are being reserved in municipal parking lots and 24 at New York City Housing Authority developments.
While the program will cut into the spaces available for street parking, officials said it’s expected to eventually alleviate parking woes by prodding families to forgo buying a car or give up a vehicle that’s parked more than it’s used.
“I think this absolutely will help us reduce the number of cars, reduce congestion and open up parking spaces,” the mayor said at a press conference at Columbia University in Morningside Heights. “If this works, we’re going to take it citywide in a very aggressive way.”
The companies are each paying the city just $785 in licensing fees for the right to participate in the pilot, which is sure to land them a significant amount of free publicity.
Asked why the city isn’t charging more, the mayor said his administration opted to take benefits during the pilot program — such as a slightly discounted car-rental rate for NYCHA residents and IDNYC holders — rather than cash.
“We’re getting a public service and the taxpayers are paying nothing,” he said.
The NYCHA deal, which is available solely from Zipcar, waves the annual membership fee for the first year, gives drivers a $20 credit and reduces the hourly rate by $1.
Zipcar reps said their rates start at $8.50 per hour, with a $7 monthly membership fee.
Enterprise rates start at $8 per hour, with a $40 annual membership fee, a rep said.