Prospect Heights test of once-a-week alternate-side parking backfires

Cutting alternate-side parking on part of Prospect Heights to a single day a week made things worse, Council Member Crystal Hudson said Thursday. A Sanitation Department pilot ended with fewer cleared curbs and more tickets than the old twice-weekly schedule.

The trial started in August on select Brooklyn blocks. Instead of two street-cleaning days, each block had one weekly day when cars parked on either side had to move. According to Hudson, the test was meant to show whether drivers would reliably clear the curb when they were asked to do it only once.

Alternate-side parking compliance dropped during the pilot

Hudson said compliance slid from 73% to 62%. Tickets climbed as well. The Sanitation Department wrote 455 alternate-side tickets in the month before the trial, when drivers still had two days to move. Over the pilot, with only half as many enforcement days, the count reached 913.

“My theory was that with fewer times to move your car, compliance would go up,” Hudson said. She had two possible explanations for the drop. Some drivers may have fallen out of their weekly routine. Others may have figured a fine was less trouble than moving the car. For owners who treat tickets as a normal cost of keeping a car in the city, one ticket may beat two, she said.

Which Prospect Heights blocks were in the test

On the avenue side, the trial area ran between Vanderbilt Avenue and either Washington or Grand avenues. Its street boundaries were Pacific Street and Lincoln Place.

While the pilot was running, the department had inspectors check those streets and photographed the blocks. Its conclusion: with sweepers coming through only once a week, the curbs did not get clean enough.

Hudson had wanted the change to become permanent. “I’m disappointed,” she said, adding, “we’ve got to do better.”