Hertz Car Sharing Proposal to Go Before Council in January
The city already operates a similar program, Carshare Alexandria!
Alexandria City Council is slated to decide Jan. 8 whether to allow a private company to use public parking spaces in the city for a car sharing program.
The issue is whether the city should designate certain public spaces for private car share users 24 hours a day. Council members must decide where the spaces would be located, how many and what licensing fee the company making the proposal, Hertz, would pay the city, said Sandra Marks, acting deputy director for the city Department of Transportation and Environmental Services.
"The city is active in promoting alternate modes of transportation, and car sharing allows people the ability to commute by transit, get rid of their car, and have a car if they need to make a trip,” Marks said. "… So it really encourages a car-free lifestyle.”
The recommended annual fee from the car sharing company to the city per space in Old Town would be $2,300 and $1,500 for Carlyle. No more than two spaces per block would be able to be reserved for car share spaces, and leases may be granted for two years at a time only.
The city already runs a car sharing program, Carshare Alexandria!, which is part of the Local Motion initiative to encourage alternative modes of transportation. That program reimburses car share users for the first year of their car sharing membership, usually about $85, Marks said.
Currently, Zipcar is the only car share program operating in the city, but those cars are all parked on private or Metro property, Marks said. Car sharing programs allow members to reserve a car for hourly use. Individuals can become members of a car sharing service by paying a flat annual fee. Members can reserve a car anytime.
Faye Dastgheib, a principal city planner, said Carshare Alexandria! launched in 2004 and has had 477 participants to date.
On Dec. 5, the new program was favorably received by the city Transportation Commission.
Bea Porter
10:01 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
The City has and is taking away so much parking, they do not need to keep 2 spaces tied up 24/7 by cars that may or may not be used. I understand the City wants revenue from wherever they can get it, and certainly ride share is a good thing, but there are a lot of people that depend on their own vehicles and if we can not get parking on the street because of this program, then this program should not come. The City already has a program in place, and with the bike share they have also taken away parking. As parking is blocked from main streets it then affects all of the residents as visitors, tourists, other people will then venture from main streets into residential areas and take more parking away from the residents. We pay taxes, we vote in the City, we should be allowed parking.
Jonathan Krall
11:15 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
This is not about revenue, it is about reducing car ownership and the resulting demand for parking and roadway space. If we abandon careshare and bikeshare, then more people will drive (and park) and gridlock will increase. The only way to avoid gridlock is to give people more non-private-car options.
Also, if a space in Old Town or Carlyle is worth over $1000 per year, why are we letting people park for free? If we want fewer people to drive (and thereby avoid gridlock), we need to think harder about the incentives. Maybe we should give one parking pass to each household _and_ give people the option of taking cash instead of the pass. That would reverse the incentive. With a small increase in property taxes this program could be revenue neutral.
McBrinn
1:59 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
"why are we letting people park for free?"
Streets are built with funds gathered through taxation. No one is parking for free.
Carolyn Griglione
6:51 pm on Thursday, December 20, 2012
What about the needs of elderly and less mobile people who drive but walking or taking transit is not a possibility for them? Many do not qualify for a 'handicap' space. They have and are paying taxes for these parking places. Walking a small distance is difficult for many elderly people. I always want to remind younger people that they need to be sympathetic to the needs of the elderly. Unless their luck runs out early they too may need consideration when they meet their later years. They may think they will still be riding that bike and hopping on the bus. For most this is not the case.