Council to discuss parking placards for pregnant people
The Boston City Council will consider a proposal to allow pregnant people in their third trimester to apply for temporary disabled parking placards, officials said.
“If you’ve ever been pregnant or been the spouse of someone who is pregnant, you will completely, 100 percent be on board with this,” said Councilor John FitzGerald, who introduced the proposal at a City Council meeting on Wednesday.
FitzGerald, who has three children under 10, said all 13 council members signaled support for the proposal. A hearing on the plan will be held in the next two months, FitzGerald said Thursday.
The proposal cites a list of concerns for those who are pregnant, including mobility issues, medical conditions, and emergency situations. It states that Illinois and Texas allow women in their third trimester to use a disabled placard for 90 days, and a number of stores in Massachusetts, such as Target, Walmart, and Buy Buy Baby have parking spots reserved for “expecting parents and parents with small children.”
“Most pregnant folks, especially in the last trimester, have a hard time walking more than 100 to 200 yards without being short of breath or winded,” the proposal states.
FitzGerald said his wife, who consistently mentioned how “physically, things were getting harder” in the third trimester of her pregnancy, inspired the idea.
“I’m happy to do it, not only for my wife, but for all women going through pregnancy,” FitzGerald said. “Especially if it’s not even your first child, you’re going through these effects and also trying to lug around a 2year-old.” FitzGerald also said the proposal aims to “build an infrastructure of a city around families.”
“When families are in the city, the city runs better,” he said. “People care about the quality of the streets, people care about the schools, people care about the little things. Families have to stay.”
The hearing will address potential hurdles.
In Massachusetts, 4,724 disability plates and 362,087 permanent disabled parking placards were active as of Jan. 31, according to the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
The city manages “accessible parking spaces,” according to the mayor’s office. The amount of accessible street parking depends on the amount of parking available in the area, the office said.
Parking spaces are labeled as “commercial,” “community,” or “residential” and the number of required spaces in parking lots and garages is governed by state and federal law, the mayor’s office said. The office declined to say how many accessible parking spaces there currently are in Boston.
The hearing will set up a “path forward,” FitzGerald said, and the City Council will most likely send a petition to the RMV to add “physical rehabilitation due to pregnancy” as a category to qualify for a placard as their next step.
Current categories include “unable to walk 200 feet without stopping to rest,” “Legally Blind,” “Chronic Lung Disease,” “Cardiovascular Disease,” or “Loss of Limb.”