Lander Seeks Feedback On Locations For Carshare Pilot

PARK SLOPE/CARROLL GARDENS/COBBLE HILL – Council Member Brad Lander is asking for the community’s feedback regarding the anticipated locations in his district for the NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) two-year pilot carshare program.

Last summer, DOT announced that the citywide pilot program would dedicate approximately 300 street parking spaces and 300 parking spaces in municipal parking facilities exclusively to participating carshare companies in select neighborhoods.

The on-street portion of the NYC DOT Carshare Pilot will take place in 15 select neighborhoods citywide, including the following neighborhoods in Brooklyn: Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens, East Williamsburg, Park Slope, Red Hook, and Williamsburg.

DOT created an online portal last spring in which users could enter the neighborhoods where they wanted carshare parking zones.

Council Member Lander sent out an email on Wednesday containing maps of the anticipated locations in his district (District 39) including Park Slope and Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill. He instructs community members with any comments or concerns about the locations to complete an online form which his office will forward to DOT.

DOT is designating 15 sites/30 spaces in Park Slope and 15 sites/30 spaces in Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill, his message adds. For maps showing potential carshare locations in the other Brooklyn neighborhoods, click here.

The following areas in Brooklyn are included in the off-street portion of the pilot program: Avenue M, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Brighton Beach, Canarsie, Flatbush/Caton, Gowanus, Grant Avenue, and Sheepshead Bay. The off-street portion of the NYC DOT Carshare Pilot involves making 10% or up to ten spaces (whichever is less) of parking spaces in all municipal parking facilities available to carshare companies, where there is demand.

Carsharing provides members access to a car for short-term use, either round-trip service in which members pick up and return vehicles at the same location (like Zipcar and Enterprise Carshare), or one-way service in which members pick up a car at one location and drop it off at another (like Car2Go and ReachNow).

The carshare program would potentially lower household transportation costs, improve access for shopping and infrequent car trips, and reduce congestion. The program might even convince some New Yorkers to do away with their cars altogether, which has occurred in other cities with carshare programs. Over time, this could create fewer cars competing for on-street parking, Lander says.

Anyone with comments or questions about the carshare locations in Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, and Cobble Hill can complete Lander’s online form or attend the next CB6 Transportation and Public Safety Committee Meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 18 at 6:30pm at the Cobble Hill Community Meeting Room, 250 Baltic Street (between Court & Clinton Streets).

Learn more about the NYC DOT carshare pilot program here.