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Editor: 

The new General Plan calls for holding back building more downtown parking until policies are in place to make better use of existing parking, and cause enough people to shift to public transit so that more parking is not so necessary. 

The alternative is to stupidly go on doing what has always been done, and encourage more and more cars coming to downtown. 

Of course, such regressive policy is fine if we all agree that the convenience of using a car is worth enduring traffic congestion, inching along, inhaling exhaust fumes, until we can pull into a blessed parking slot. 

The “parking lobby” is fixated on the notion that customers come only by car, and any attempt to relieve congestion by people shifting to public transit, is foolish and doomed to failure. 

It’s certainly true that most people prefer to get about by car, but polls consistently show that traffic congestion is thought to be the No. 1 urban evil. 

The Traffic Demand Management study found that the present supply of parking is poorly utilized. One reason is that people don’t know which lots have the free slots. Weekday commuters take up a huge amount of parking space by storing their cars all day. 

A bus can carry 30-40 people. At the typical one person per car, that’s a long line of cars not contributing to congestion. 

It’s all too easy to give in to the parking lobby. The big danger is that not only will an increase in available parking make congestion much worse, but the city will get focused on building the parking, and will forget about any effort to promote public transit. 

Should Berkeley call for a ban on parking, like it called for a ban on bombing? 

Of course not. Of course we should make use of cars for some trips. We will always need downtown parking for those trips, and for visitors. 

Here’s some good progressive policy for Berkeley: 1. Cut back the amount of all-day parking. Make those spaces available for short-term and visitor parking. 2. Shift a substantial number of people from driving alone in a car to riding a bus. Commuters should use transit if they work regular hours, don’t carry more than a briefcase of baggage and don’t use their car during the day. 3. Promote car-free shopping by establishing more downtown pedestrian malls. Establish package delivery services. 

Let’s see Berkeley get national attention, this time for doing something positive about our own traffic problem. 

Steve Geller  

Berkeley