progressillinois.com - 400 views
Why high parking meter rates could be a good thing -- assuming the money goes towards expanding transit options.
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This is a column from the director of development for the Active Transportation Alliance, which describes itself in this way:
"The Active Transportation Alliance’s vision for the Chicago metropolitan region is one with 50 percent fewer crashes and where half of all trips are made by walking, biking, and mass transit."
Points made in the piece:
-There's no such thing as free parking. It's heavily subsidized, which drives up rent and prices for goods.
-78% of Chicagoland commuters drive to work.
-95% of them park for free.
-We should raise the prices on them to fair market value.
I think I understand a lot of the anti-driving effort, but at the end of the day, the weather stinks in Chicago some times, riding a bike in the Loop is kind of scary, and listening to my iPod while I tool through the Loop in the morning is pleasant and a privilege I can afford right now. If it got more expensive, I would have to do things I don't want to do, i.e. bike through the rain when I need to get downtown and be scared of getting hit by a car.
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