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ZipCar Parking


Barbara

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Went for brunch today with SO and an old friend from Boston. No valet parking, so we slipped into a ZipCar spot and almost got towed.

Too bad you weren't towed. 1) Zipcar pays the city for those spots; and 2) the person with the Zipcar for that location starts getting charged $50 for getting the car back late, which could easily happen because of thoughtless people who park in those spots and having to find a legal spot somewhere else (lotsa luck) and then contacting zipcar. Never do that again. (Don, move this to a more appropriate thread if you need to.)

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I'm not going to argue the alleged merits of Zipcar, but the last time I looked they were not paying for public spaces, only private ones. Either way, you can get ticketed and towed for parking in their spaces, and the fine is similar to parking in a bus stop.

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DC DOT doesn't get paid for the spaces, but here is their reasoning:

DDOT is confident that carsharing parking spaces will reduce the total number of cars in congested neighborhoods and make parking easier for everyone - whether they use carsharing or not. Think about the bus stops in your neighborhood. Cars aren't allowed to park there. But because they make it possible for so many people to use transit and avoid car ownership, bus stops (and the bus service that goes with them) actually free up more parking spaces than they consume.
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As such, Zip Car pays DC taxes.

My objective in posting was to counter the assertion that Zipcar pays DC for its parking spaces on public property. In fact, the opposite is true-DC gave up meter fees at formerly metered public spaces, and paid for improvements to the spaces, then gave them to Zipcar. Additionally, I'm not a tax accountant, but I'm not sure how one could know that Zipcar pays DC taxes.

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I am totally with Barbara, but ZipCar does need to make sure their spots are clearly marked. A while back, I got a ticket (and successfully fought it) for parking in a ZipCar space near H St, NE. The painted markings on the pavement were completely worn off and the sign indicating the space was reserved for ZipCar was completely turned around, making it look like the space in front of where I parked was the ZipCar spot. I wouldn't have parked there if I had known it was a reserved spot, but it really wasn't obvious.

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My understanding is that the city has decided to treat zipcar (and one would hope other car sharing services) as a service to be encouraged. The subsidy of designated parking is similar to designated taxi stands which could otherwise be made available for parking.

Jeremy

<Plop.>

"Someone get a cool washcloth - he's fainted!" ;)

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People who are priming themselves for displeasure at the "giveaway" of parking spaces to Zipcar might also want to think about driveways (both residential and commercial). Every driveway on a street where parking is allowed is, in a sense, a giveway of a parking space to the person or business that owns that driveway. So there's nothing particularly odd about setting aside a few spaces for car sharing, where so may spaces are set aside for driveways. (When I lived in Dupont Circle I could sometimes find myself starting to steam at the fact that the Scientology building had a semicircular driveway that eliminated not one but two spots. Then I realized that my pet peeves were not a very good basis for making public policy about roadways).

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Why don't we get mad at the City giving the billionaire owners of the Nationals a sweetheart deal on the stadium and then have a lease so shitty that the Learners didn't pay rent for a long time after the park opened because of ticky tack punch list items..... {ducks and runs as National branded bats and balls are thrown his way...}

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Too bad you weren't towed. 1) Zipcar pays the city for those spots; and 2) the person with the Zipcar for that location starts getting charged $50 for getting the car back late, which could easily happen because of thoughtless people who park in those spots and having to find a legal spot somewhere else (lotsa luck) and then contacting zipcar. Never do that again. (Don, move this to a more appropriate thread if you need to.)

I promise! I will never do it again. I felt guilty thoroughout the meal. I don't think that I have parked illegally since about 1974 when I lived in LA.

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I understand the premise of zipcars relieving parking icongestion but why do spaces have to be free, especially in light of the fact that it is a for profit company? Why can't zipcar just pass that cost onto their users?

i'm sure they could and would if they had to.

as someone who has never owned a car, i like the idea. there are two zip car spaces behind my building. but this is not exactly an inexpensive mode of transportation, unless you are comparing it to taking a cab.

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