Mayor announces new parking rates

By George P. Hassett

   Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone announced today that the city of Somerville would revert to charging 25 cents for 30 minutes of parking at meters throughout the city.  In addition, one-hour meters along the entire Broadway corridor will be reprogrammed to permit parkers to pay for up to two hours at a time, and, beginning July 1, meters in off-street lots in Davis Square will operate from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. instead of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
    In August, the cost of parking in Somerville for 30 minutes doubled, while meters along Broadway were shortened to one hour. The changes, made by Curtatone and the Traffic and Parking Commission, were met with unanimous disapproval from the business owners and patrons of Somerville. In January, the Board of Alderman voted 11-0 to advocate for a return to the original prices. Today Curtatone admitted the attempt to increase fees had not been successful.

   ‚ÄúWe said from the beginning that this was an experiment that would be carefully evaluated at the end of six months,‚Äù said Curtatone in a press release.  ‚ÄúThe main goal of the original rate change was to improve the turnover of spots in busy commercial districts in order to help businesses handle more customers more conveniently.  By and large, that goal was met, especially in Davis Square, Union Square and other high-demand areas.‚Äù
     ‚ÄúOverall, however, the rate of turnover didn‚Äôt improve to the point that it compensated some businesses and some residents for the hardship of paying the higher rates of fifty cents per half hour.  So we‚Äôre putting the rates back to where they were a year ago, and accepting the half-million-dollar hit in annual revenue.  But we‚Äôre also doing some fine-tuning based on our experience with the current rates and usage patterns,‚Äù he said.
      Traffic and Parking Director James Kotzuba said the new hours of operation for meters in Davis Square off street lots will increase turnover in  the square and help pay for higher maintence and operating costs associated with off street lots.