Carshare spots installed in Pelham Bay, Westchester Square as part of DOT expansion

As the city officially launches its carshare program expansion, 12 street parking spots were converted for carshare parking only in the Bronx this week.

The spots were changed over for the city’s first wave of installations as part of the expansion of a 2018-2020 carshare pilot that the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) found to be successful. As part of the program, public parking spots are reserved for on-demand hourly or daily short-term rental cars that drivers can book from their smartphones through companies like Zipcar, Getaround and Truqit.

The city began installing the first 80 parking spots for the expanded program this week. In this first wave, there are 40 locations across the city marked for 80 spots, as each location includes two parking spots. Six of those locations are in the Bronx, making up just 15% of the new spots, with the rest in Brooklyn and Queens.

While the first post-pilot spots being installed in the Bronx are concentrated in Pelham Bay and Westchester Square, the Bronx Times found in the fall that DOT had given preliminary approval for carshare spots across the borough. The number of spots proposed for each community district differed greatly, with Community Districts 9 and 12 seeing more than 10 times as many parking spots proposed as Community Districts 5 and 6.

Some Bronx community districts getting more spots than others in DOT’s carshare program launch

There were already 20 street parking spots reserved for the program in Soundview and Parkchester before this week’s installations, leftover from the pilot program.

As for when other parts of the Bronx can expect to see parking spots converted for the program, a DOT spokesperson told the Bronx Times that the agency will be installing future locations on a rolling basis over the course of the year. The spokesperson did not have further details to share about the agency’s installation plan.

DOT has a goal to convert hundreds of street parking spots across the city for the carshare program this year, according to the agency.

Councilmember Amanda Farías, whose district includes Soundview and Parkchester, said the program improves transit equity in the outer boroughs like the Bronx and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accessibility for car use.

“From what we have seen so far, car share has empowered neighbors in Parkchester to have the convenience to travel around the City and upstate with ease,” she said in a statement to the Bronx Times. “I am continuously working with local residents, community boards, and NYC DOT to ensure the expansion of the citywide curbside car share program continues to impact our neighborhoods in a positive manner.”