Hybrid car = free parking!

One Queens Councilmember would like the city to make buying hybrid cars more attractive to residents - by offering free parking.
“The basic premise is that individuals who are buying vehicles in the city of New York should be given incentives to buy hybrid vehicles, which are much more sound for our environment,” said Councilmember Hiram Monserrate.
On Thursday, March 6, Monserrate announced that he, along with Councilmembers Gale Brewer and Letitia James, introduced a bill to give owners of new hybrid cars the right to park free at parking meters and municipal lots for one year after purchase. New car owners would have to apply to the city for a permit to display in their windshield, and if a hybrid owner sold their car, the parking perk would still be valid for up to one year.
“The technology is now tested and proven, and it’s my sincere belieF that we as a city should do whatever we can to ensure that we are assisting in reducing the emissions of green house gases, which obviously come from fossil burning vehicles,” Monserrate said.
Monserrate also touted the plan as possibly beneficial to the local economy by spurring car sales.
The proposal has already garnered approval from several environmental groups, however at least one asked why electric vehicles, which have no emissions, were not included.
“I think that there will be in the future a number of electric cars on the market,” said Jack D. Hidary, Chair of SmartTransportation.org. “As [the bill] is written now, it would only apply to cars that are hybrid electric.”
Still, any incentive for buying and driving higher fuel efficiency cars would be beneficial “for the health of all New Yorkers in terms of reducing air pollution, which is still a huge issue, mainly in the other boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, where we find the larger numbers of children with asthma,” Hidary said.
So far, Councilmember James Gennaro, who chairs the Environmental Committee, has endorsed the bill, and Monserrate is now seeking responses from the other politicians. The bill was referred to the Council’s Transportation Committee for review.
Committee Chair John Liu said that the bill was one of several ideas - including allowing hybrid cars to use HOV lanes and creating designated toll booth lanes for more fuel-efficient cars.
Each of these plans have a downside “to the extent that we are encouraging people to buy cars, albeit hybrid electric cars, rather than take mass transit.”
In addition, the bill, if passed, would need a number of clarifications as to who would receive a permit and extenuating circumstances, Liu said.
“We have never given special treatment to class of passenger vehicles before,” Liu said.