If you don’t want to pay for an expensive limousine or risk not getting a NYC taxi to the airport, City Valet is your answer.
City Valet has licensed, insured professional drivers who will drive you where you want to go — in your very own car. It’s great for:
Why isn’t most NYC parking free? The street is public property, right?
If all street parking were free, then many people wouldn’t move their cars and people wouldn’t be able to find an empty spot. So charging for on-street parking is a way to manage the supply and demand, plus generate revenue for NYC to maintain the city. And since street parking is highly sought after, NYC can charge for it based on its value to drivers.
When it comes to NYC parking, you have three choices: the first two are a non-metered, free parking space on the street, or try to find a vacant metered space. If that fails, there are 1,100 NYC parking garages in Manhattan alone that will take your car, make sure it isn’t stolen or damaged, and charge you appropriately for it.
But we found at least 20 ways to save on both NYC street and NYC garage parking. If you think of any more ways, let us know!
NYC Street Parking
What if Your Phone Were Embedded in the Steering Wheel?
It used to be that once you were in your car, the only connection with the outside world was through the radio. Then came the overhead highway signs alerting us to road conditions. Now, the mobile phone and in-vehicle technology have truly made ‘Connected Cars’ the norm.
Both the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the North American International Auto Show in Detroit in January 2012 had people reeling at the in-vehicle technology letting people use Facebook, buy movie tickets, download music, check the weather, book a dinner reservation, and check stock prices.
But at what cost? The access points for in-vehicle technology range from touchpads on the steering wheel to audible commands to waving your hand across the windshield. Read more…
Results of the Women vs. Men Parking Study
The long debate is over — women are better at parking than men!
Who Finds a Parking Space Quicker?
Women are better at finding a parking space. They’re more patient and drive a little slower while looking, so they’re better equipped to glimpse that empty spot or see when someone is about to leave a parking space. Disclosure: this study focused on public parking garages, not street parking.
Who Has a Better Pre-Parking Pose?
It’s all in the preparation. If you start out correctly, then it’s really easy to park perfectly and impress all those around you. But if you try to wing it, then you’ll be going between Drive and Reverse enough times to embarrass yourself. Once again, women ranked higher in this category with 77% scoring ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’ vs 53% of the men getting the thumbs up.
Back Into the Spot or Just Drive Right In? Read more…
There are 9 days identified as Gridlock Alert Days for 2011. Drive only if you really, really, really have to.
Park Ave & E 33rd Street is the most dangerous intersection in all of NYC for pedestrians and bicyclists, according to Transportation Alternatives new site, www.crashstat.org.
Manhattan claims 8 of the top 10 intersections for NYC accidents between motor vehicles and either pedestrians or cyclists. Read more…
How the Sensors will Work
We’ve all done it — drive around and around looking for a parking spot on the street. A free spot is fabulous, but we’re even willing to put money in a parking meter if it means we can find parking.
So if we can send a man to the moon, why can’t we know when there is an available street parking spot?
Now, we can. IBM has just announced a strategic partnership with Streetline where Streetline’s sensors would be placed at every parking spot on a street. Once a car parks in the spot, the system will know that it’s not available. The sensors will also communicate with the parking meter to know if the customer paid for that parking space and when the parking meter runs out.
One of the Sensors
If you’re driving and looking for parking, Read more…
Remember all the hullabaloo about Congestion Pricing a few years ago? It was Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to charge vehicles to enter Manhattan below 60th Street as an effort to reduce congestion from NYC traffic. It got voted down, and now it’s back.
There will be 22 entry points where vehicles will pay the NYC Congestion Pricing Toll.
What Will the Congestion Pricing Toll Plan Be?
The Rate is Unknown at this time.
Congestion Pricing Tolls would be in effect 24/7. Peak rates from 6am – 6pm. Lower rates on weekends and overnight.
NYC Taxis don’t have to pay a toll. But passengers will pay a $1 toll per trip. Read more…
Three weeks ago I had a flat tire. Turned out not only did I need a new tire but I also needed a new wheel. Who is to blame? Potholes!
If you’ve been in a car around NYC in the last few months, you know what I’m talking about. Large holes that appear in the road overnight, some as large as 2 feet wide. They slow down NYC traffic, can be hard to avoid, destroy NYC road conditions, ruin your car and never seem to get fixed fast enough.
So I set out to find out just where these craters come from. There are a few different theories:
These 8 days have been named 2010 NYC Gridlock Alert Days – when you can expect the city to have significant traffic and are advised NOT to drive if you really, really don’t have to.
Wednesday, November 24
Tuesday, November 30
Friday, December 10
Wednesday, December 15
Thursday, December 16
Friday, December 17
Wednesday, December 22
Thursday, December 23
