The first Workgroup Meeting for the Southeast Complete Streets Plan, coordinated by Mark R. Brown, City Planner with the Baltimore City Department of Transportation took place on December 13, 2010 at Southeast Anchor Library.  This Workgroup will have 4 additional monthly 2-hour meetings:  one meeting on parking, one on “street calming”, one on Green Streets, and a final meeting to prepare a report. For additional information go to the following website:

http://www.orangeconeproject.com/category/secompletestreets/

As noted above, the Southeast Complete Streets Workgroup will only be devoting one two-hour meeting to parking in the whole of the southeast part of the City and that meeting will only focus on angled parking solutions, since the City DOT has no jurisdiction over parking garages, residential parking permits, bus stops and routes, etc. 

Consequently, Canton Community Association will resume its own initiatives is comprehensively exploring all possible solutions to the Canton parking problems.  Delegate Peter Hammen will be assisting in this effort.

Denise Aversa, Chairman, Parking & Transportation Committee

ZIPCARS

Zipcar (www.zipcar.com/baltimore) is scouting locations for a future expansion various City neighborhoods.  For those not familiar with Zipcar, it is an easy to use, hourly car rental service which allows you to reserve cars online and access shared vehicles right in your neighborhood. While Hertz and Enterprise are oriented towards long distances and long rental periods, Zipcar was created for shorter trips in half hour increments, and the service can also serve as a substitute for car ownership.

Zipcar locations typical require 2 parking spaces per “node”. These spaces are where members pick up and drop off vehicles. We understand that each and every parking space is valuable, however, increasing shared vehicle use is key to reducing parking demand in your neighborhood. I’ve attached a study done by PB (an independent consulting firm) showing how another shared vehicle service in Philadelphia reduced parking demand in Queen Village. A few highlights from the study:

Since joining PhillyCarShare I: Respondents

A. Acquired a car 0.0 %

B. Got rid of a car 21.4 %

C. Decided not to acquire a car 21.4 %

D. Have strongly considered getting rid of my car 3.6 %

E. None of the above 53.6 %

Total 100.0 %

“About 42% of Queen Village car-sharing members sold or avoided purchasing a vehicle and each PhillyCarShare vehicle was associated with 23 fewer cars owned (and parked) by Queen Village residents. Altogether, Queen Village participants reported owning 45 fewer vehicles than they would have owned without PhillyCarShare.”

There are concerns about dedicating several parking spaces to Zipcar.  However, these spaces should be thought of as an investment which will pay off through reduced car ownership, reduced parking demand, and less time spent trying to find a space when you get home from work or school.  

Questions about Zipcar and possibly establishing one or more Zipcar locations in the Canton area can be directed to Tiffany James at the Parking Authority (tiffany.james@baltimorecity.gov).