Good.
The City Council on Wednesday said companies can start immediately applying for agreements with the city that allow them to use on-street parking spaces so vehicles are visible and easily available to users. Companies such as Zipcar allow people to check out vehicles with a smartphone app and rent them by the day or hour. Drivers can then leave the vehicles in any designated spot.
Council members also approved continuing the current agreement with Zipcar for four on-street parking spots in Midtown.
With citywide rules in place, Mayor Sylvester Turner said he hopes more companies come forward to offer vehicles. A handful of companies — typically subsidiaries of larger well-known car manufacturers or car rental agencies — have entered the industry.
After delaying approval two weeks ago, council members approved the proposal by the city’s regulatory affairs department, with some changes. District I Councilman Robert Gallegos, sought more focus on using renewable-energy and fuel-efficient vehicles, as well as greater oversight of exactly where the spaces will be located.
Up to 20 spaces total will be used for car-sharing at first, and any additional ones must be approved by council. Before any spaces may be used for car-sharing — following approval by a traffic engineer and ParkHouston — city staff must notify any property owners within 200 feet of the space and the appropriate city council district office.
See here for the background. As the previous story notes, Zipcar is leasing these spots from the city, which seems like a reasonable arrangement to me as long as they’re paying a fair market rate. We need to find ways to encourage people to use cars less on a daily basis, and one way to accomplish that is to make it easier for them to get a car when they do need one. This is a step in the right direction.