Anyone who lives in the Bay Area who has a car has an opinion about — or beef with — parking, and now residents of Berkeley are being asked to weigh in on the city’s proposals of how to best manage on-street parking near transit stations, busy streets and in business districts.
The city of Berkeley released a survey to help shape how it handles parking in order to “increase the vitality of these areas by maximizing the use of the most sought-after parking spaces and reducing congestion caused by drivers circling in the search for spaces,” the city said in an email to residents.
The proposals being considered are:
- Extending evening meter hours from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday in high-demand areas.
- Bringing in paid parking on Sundays, which the city says is one of the busiest days for commercial districts.
- Expanding parking meters to new high-demand areas that currently have no meters or time-limited parking.
- Replacing older meters with meters that accept credit/debit/Clipper cards instead of cash and coin.
- Shifting transaction fees currently paid by the city to the customers, meaning an extra 25 to 35 cents per meter transaction.
- Creating an optional monthly or annual meter permit (at a cost of between $4,000 and $6,000 annually) that allows drivers to park in any metered zone without paying the meter.
- Making the Center Street Garage more desirable for short-term parking (under 4 hours).
The survey is in two parts. In the first part, residents indicate whether they agree or disagree with the goals of the City’s Parking Management Program. Then, they will be asked their opinion on the seven proposals above.
The survey must be completed by 5 p.m. on March 18. More information is available on the city’s website.
