Saturday, May 14, 2011

Congestion Pricing * USA - Want to Add to Congestion? Then It’s Going to Cost You

How to find a parking space

(Photo fby Noah Berger/The Bay Citizen: Kristin Malotke feeds a meter on the Embarcadero. The dynamics of parking are changing)
San Francisco,CAL,USA -The New York Times, by ZUSHA ELINSON -May 5, 2011:  -- Jay Primus’s small office at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency could be mistaken for that of a science professor. The walls are covered with giant maps and colorful charts, all aimed at helping to illuminate one of the big mysteries in the life of any city dweller: how to find a parking space...  Mr. Primus runs SFPark, a recently launched experiment that seeks to eliminate congestion by changing the dynamics of parking. The approach is twofold: to change the price of a parking space according to demand and thereby keep spaces open on every block, and to lead drivers to open spaces using an array of sensors, eliminating congestion caused by circling drivers...  Mr. Primus is part of the vanguard of public officials around the Bay Area who are pushing sophisticated traffic and parking solutions built on the theory of congestion pricing. Though Mr. Primus and other traffic specialists sprinkle their conversations with jargon like “availability targets” and “gradual periodic price change,” the basic idea behind congestion pricing is a simple one: charge more to use streets and highways at the busiest times, and discourage those who don’t want to pay a premium at peak hours...  Congestion pricing is already in place in cities including Singapore, London and Stockholm, but it has made few inroads in this country. An effort to charge motorists for driving into Manhattan, championed by Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York, failed in 2008 in the face of virulent opposition from legislators in the city’s four other boroughs and the suburbs...


* New York - Rep. Tonko Introduces Truck Parking Measure. ‘Jason’s Law’ - Would Add $20 Million for More Spaces

Albany,NY,USA -Transport Topics -11 May 2011: -- About $20 million in federal highway money would be available to add parking spaces for truck drivers needing rest, under legislation introduced in the House Wednesday...  Rep. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) introduced the measure, dubbed “Jason’s Law,” named for Jason Rivenburg, a New York driver who was robbed and murdered in March 2009 while parked at an abandoned South Carolina gas station. There have been dozens of reported robberies since ... Trucking industry representatives said this week at a National Transportation Safety Board forum in Washington said a lack of available parking for truck drivers is one of the most pressing problems facing the industry...  There are 261,208 parking spaces at truck stops and travel plazas in the U.S., according to the NATSO, an association that represents truck stops...  But about 2 million more trucks will be added in the U.S. to meet freight demands as the economy expands, according to Mary Phillips, American Trucking Associations’ senior vice president of legislative affairs...