Streetsblog highlights efforts by city council members Mike O'Brien and Tim Burgess to base Seattle on-street parking rates on demand, rather than setting flat meter rates by neighborhood, calling that strategy "courageous" compared to the current policy in New York City, where the city council recently rejected efforts to increase meter rates by a quarter.

NYC meter rates are so low right now that curbs are constantly packed, generating lots of traffic and making drivers more susceptible to big fines for double parking or blocking bus stops. A more rational policy would align parking prices with demand, freeing up curbside space, cutting down on the time drivers spend cruising, and creating a less congested environment on commercial streets.

Late last year, the city council increased the maximum rate for on-street parking from $2.50 to $4 an hour, and directed the Seattle Department of Transportation to do a neighborhood-by-neighborhood survey of parking occupancy. That data, which will be released this Friday, will be the basis of a new rate-setting structure under which meter rates will go up when demand is higher and go down when demand is lower. The goal, council members say, is to set rates at a level that leaves one or two spaces free per block.

Streetsblog notes that Washington, D.C. adopted a policy similar to Seattle's proposal two years ago, and saw immediate benefits for customers of small businesses, as "people were able to get in and out more easily without having to double park and risk a ticket."