The town of Asheville NC has just past an ordinance giving Hybrid cars free parking on its downtown meters. Of course I'm sure you can hear the wailing from all gas guzzling owners about how unfair this is but the city council says that the amount of Hybrid cars in the area will not effect the ability to get a parking space which you cannot find now so really no big deal. Their intention is to get more people to buy and drive a Hybrid cars which is a good idea but I don't think an hour or so of free parking is any great incentive.
They do in a few places in Chicago as well. I saw this sign when I recently visited Chicago's Garfield Park Conservatory. There was not another empty spot in the very full lot, as I was giving up, and I saw this sign, I almost ignored it, thinking it was for "Handicapped" parking, or something similar. Then I read the sign, as was amazed to see that in Chicago, so I had to take a picture. Let's hope that this catches on. I would like to know how they would be able to give a ticket to an SUV (hybrid or not) parking here, and how it would hold up in court?
I would love to see some sort of free parking here in NYC for Hybrids. Mayor Mike talks about making a greener NYC and is pushing hybrid tech, most city agencies use Prii ,so how about a little thank you for those who are actually using hybrid tech?
Make all Mid-Town street parking only for Low Emission vehicles like the Honda Civic Hybrid, and the Toyota Prius, all others may not park curbside on the street. Then create No Turn Cross Town streets that can only be used by Hybrids, like one to help Mid-Town Tunnel drivers get into the Lincoln Tunnel quicker. Create HYBRID ONLY lanes on busy avenues. Lower Tolls on all Bridges & Tunnels for Hybrid vehicles only. This would seriously clean the air in the city, and make it the Hybrid Car capital of the nation in no time.
Prius drivers are already called Prickus drivers. What would we be called if we picked up more perks. We would have people sabotaging our cars. I already found a cigarette on mine while in a Hybrid spot. I got in an argument with a Harley guy I work with. He felt I should not be allowed in the HOV lane. I asked him why he should be allowed. He said because Motorcycles get good gas mileage. I told him I get better with four people inside. I, also, told him I give off less pollution, noise and attitude. I told him technically, when the pollution is high and we are not supposed to use our mowers they should not be allowed to fire up their bikes. I had him pretty pissed off. We don't talk about the HOV lanes any more.
HAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH I just ... can't stop.... HHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
i cant stand harleys. i think they make those mufflers so loud on purpose just so you can piss everyone off in a two block radius. I swear, this guy that lives three streets down from me gets up at 430am every morning to go to work on his harley and revs his engine. Omg.... Tell him his harley shouldn't be on the road period because of noise pollution. an F-16 probably doesn't make as much noise...
I have nothing against Harleys, aside from the loudness, but I've got to say that if your motorcycle gets the same mpg (50 mpg) as a midsize-car, that's got to be embarassing. A friend of mine recently told me his mpg of his Harley, and I refrained from commenting since I didn't want to irk him. He probably wouldn't care anyways, he drives a ford expedition I believe, so he's probably used to the bad gas mileage.
Careful what you wish for..some states are already talking about taxing Hybrids and electrics at a higher rate to make up for lost Gas tax sales....
let me guess those are the red states right? defeats the whole purpose of tax incentives and tax breaks for fuel-efficent cars. but we all know which party gives an S about the environment (or at least pretends to) and which one doesn't.
Most of the neighborhood "Fresh & Easy" locations have reserved Hybrid parking. I've seen other stores do the same.