If you drive in the city, it looks like you’ll soon be paying more to park at a meter.

The proposal was first raised during a Department of Transportation budget hearing on Tuesday night, CBS2’s Janelle Burrell reported Thursday.

DOT officials are billing the proposed meter rate increase as a way to ease congestion in the city. Higher prices, they hope, will encourage drivers to keep it moving, or keep their car at home.

DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said the price changes will involve creating more rate zones to match the parking demand for the roughly 85,000 metered spots in neighborhoods around the five boroughs.

“New York City has among the lowest parking rates right now compared to other comparable cities,” Trottenberg said.

Currently, drivers pay $3.50 an hour to park below 96th Street in Manhattan.  Parking from 96th Street to 110th Street is $1.50 an hour, while drivers in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and those parking above 110th Street in Manhattan pay $1.00 per hour.

“The meters in heavily congested, transit rich Downtown Brooklyn are priced the same as those in less dense East New York,” Trottenberg said at a City Council budget hearing Thursday. “We think modest rate increases will promote turnover in commercial areas and have a positive effect on congestion as well.”

The new plan is scheduled to go into effect before the end of the year and, in most areas, would include what Trottenberg described as a “modest” increase for a second hour of parking, in order to encourage drivers to move their cars more quickly.  Drivers parking south of 96th Street in Manhattan, however, would enjoy a discounted rate second hour rate.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)