NYC Planning Pilot Program To Create Car-Share Spaces

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The city is planning to designate hundreds of parking spaces for car-share vehicles only.

Starting in the spring, the Department of Transportation will set aside 600 spaces for customers of companies like ZipCar and Car2Go for a two-year pilot program.

Customers rent the cars by the hour and access them using an electronic card.

Half of the spaces will be in city-owned garages and lots; the rest will be non-metered street spaces.

City Councilman Mark Levine said the goal is to free up parking for private cars and cut congestion.

"They estimate that for every car share vehicle, five to 10 privately-owned vehicles are taken off the road and that frees up parking," Councilman Mark Levine said. "This is a great first step towards giving more New Yorkers an alternative to having to own their own car."

Similar programs are in place in Seattle and San Francisco.

"Time and again they have found this leads people to either get rid of the cars they own or decide not to upgrade or buy a new one," Levine said.

Communities will get a say in where these spaces go.

"This is not the kind of thing that will go against the will of a neighborhood," Levine said. "It's the kind of thing that many neighborhoods are asking for."