Boston is planning to launch a pilot program in the coming months that would set aside about 200 existing street-parking spots for car-sharing vehicles.
The program would allow companies like Zipcar to bid on city-owned spaces, where car-sharing vehicles would be allowed to park when not rented out; according to the Boston Globe, the program would also apply to other “free-floating” car-share services that allow users to rent, drive, then park cars in neighborhood and metered spots for free – without a city parking sticker.
Officials in Mayor Marty Walsh’s office wouldn’t disclose the exact number of parking spots car-share companies will be allowed to bid on; they did, however, confirm two-tenths of 1 percent of city-owned spots would be designated for car-sharing services, the Globe reports.
(The city owns more than 100,000 parking spaces, meaning the one-year pilot would give 200 or so spots to bidding companies.)
Currently Zipcar – the traditional car-share company expected to bid on the highly coveted spots – has a fleet of 1,200 vehicles in the market, almost all of which are parked in private lots; rather than buy up spaces in South Boston (a.k.a. parking hell), the Globe reports Zipcar executives will target less congested areas like “Roxbury, Dorchester, and East Boston.”
New “free-floating” car-share companies like the popular Car2Go – which allows users to search, use, and pay minute-to-minute rates for Smart cars the company has made available in a certain area, via a mobile app – could also be looking to snag some of the city-own spaces. Car2go has confirmed interest in the city’s pilot program, but hasn’t said whether or not it would bid, the Globe reports.
German Car2Go and Boston-based Zipcar are known rivals. Founded in 2008, Car2Go is available in the U.S. in southern California, Denver and Atlanta; while the free-floating service has yet to enter the Boston market, the company has expressed interest in doing so.
“Boston is definitely one of the cities that we are looking into, but we do not have a confirmed timeline, yet,” Adrianne Andang, Car2Go’s North America communications manager told the Boston Business Journal in August. “We believe that Boston could really benefit from having a true, point-to-point transportation option.”
City officials expect to choose winning bids at the start of summer, the Globe reports. Public hearings will be held about the program, which, if it is deemed a success, could be extended beyond a year.
The pilot program is primarily being pitched as a way to reduce the number of cars on the road – which is a problem, considering Bostonians love owning cars, and hate that there’s never a place to park. But, since the pilot could generate some much needed revenue, the city may be willing to put up with the complaints that are sure to pour in from residents across the city.
Photo via Zipcar
