Pol: Muni-meter bill’s just the ticket
BY THE end of the year, Bronx parking will be completely run by muni-meters. By the end of the month, hopefully some frustration with the meters will be resolved.
According to City Councilman James Vacca, chair of the Council’s Transportation Committee, there is plenty of support to pass his new bill, which will allow unexpired time on muni-meter receipts to be used elsewhere.
“With the old meters,” says Vacca of the coin-operated meters, “If you left your space and you still had time, the next person parking there could have your time, so it wasn’t completely lost. With the muni-meters, however, we’ve had some confusion.”
The Department of Transportation currently has no regulations that specify what a motorist can do with the remaining time they purchase from a meter.
Vacca says that drivers were given tickets despite this gap in the law, and those who attempted to fight them received mixed results from judges.
“Many judges saw that there were no laws on the books,” he said.
“Some ruled in favor of dismissing the tickets and some ruled in favor of not dismissing the tickets.”
The councilman’s bill calls for a clarification. “Too many people get this ‘I Gotcha’ ticket,” says Vacca, who stated that New York City is making $600 million a year from parking tickets.
The new legislation, which will be put to vote on April 23, will allow drivers to take muni-meters receipts that have not expired to other locations where the meter rates are the same and use the time there. The typical parking rate in the Bronx is 25 cents for 15 minutes.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has publicly given her support of the bill, with the hopes of fast-tracking it through the committee. Mayor Bloomberg, whose previous veto of a bill concerning a five-minute grace period at expired meters was overridden, is also expected to support this new legislation.
Vacca believes the law will not only be good for the motorists who are currently getting tickets they don’t deserve, but will also be good for businesses.
“It will allow people to make the most of their time, the most of what they pay for, and go from one business center to another easily,” says Vacca. “This is the money of the taxpayer, there’s no reason why you should not be able to make full use of the time you purchase.”