San Jose Clear Air Vehicle Free parking program ending

[squirrelmeat]

If you purchase your LEAF from a San Jose Dealer you may also be handed an application for the "San Jose Clear Air Vehicle Free parking program". This would allow you to park free at San Jose parking meters and at city owned garages among other locations.

What my dealer did not tell me was that the program is ending June 31. This I found out when the San Jose DOT called to ask me if I really wanted to spend $30 on a program ending in 2 months. There isn't a replacement program, just yet, although I was told IF something happens it would likely be ZEV only. (Yes, they kindly bundled up my application and check and mailed it back)

I finally found mention that the program MAY be ending at this site http://www.sjdowntownparking.com/clean_air.html

 

[thankyouOB]

another public worker showing the private sector what service is really all about.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

another public worker showing the private sector what service is really all about.

Hey, I'd pay the $30 if I could get my LEAF in time to even have this problem!!!

 

[squirrelmeat]

another public worker showing the private sector what service is really all about.

Hey, I'd pay the $30 if I could get my LEAF in time to even have this problem!!!

Should I be worried that my LEAF is usually just a parking lot away from you each day?

 

[OrientExpress]

When the San Jose parking program first came out in 2006, it was free (no $30 service charge) for hybrid owners, then they stuck the $30 service charge on it, which for me made it not economical. I rarely go downtown during the day, and the total of parking that I do have during the day is less than $30/yr. I hope they reinstate it for ZEVs and make it gratis.

 

[ElectricVehicle]

another public worker showing the private sector what service is really all about.

Hey, I'd pay the $30 if I could get my LEAF in time to even have this problem!!!

Should I be worried that my LEAF is usually just a parking lot away from you each day?

Be afraid, be very afraid!

Seriously, despite the angst of those of us who don't have our LEAFs, I think most of us would go to great lengths to make sure someone else's LEAF is safe from harm. (Oh, I don't know, things like tree trimmers! )

 

[gascant]

Seriously, despite the angst of those of us who don't have our LEAFs, I think most of us would go to great lengths to make sure someone else's LEAF is safe from harm. (Oh, I don't know, things like tree trimmers! )

Ditto that! To me it would be worth the $30 if it's reinstated for ZEV's as I'll make that back in a couple months

 

[earther]

To me it would be worth the $30 if it's reinstated for ZEV's as I'll make that back in a couple months

Inspired by a "lively exchange" with a San Jose parking attendant last night, here is a copy of the email I just sent to the city ([email protected])

*********************************
Dear City of San Jose Downtown Parking,
I commute regularly to San Jose from my residence in Gilroy in my Nissan Leaf (Electric Vehicle) which I purchased last month. My car currently displays both the State of California Clean Air Sticker (#SU007459) for which I paid $8, as well as the State of California ZEV Parking Permit (#000000960) for which I paid $17. I was informed last night (after a respectful phone disagreement with the parking supervisor of the 4th St garage), that a further $30 annual permit is also required from the city in order to prove my eligibility for the EV program at San Jose parking facilities. While this brings into question the purpose of the state permits in the first place, I was nevertheless willing to provide the $30 fee to the city and submit the application -- so imagine my further distress when I discovered your requirement that the car must have furthermore been purchased within San Jose (which of course, it wasn't, since I live outside the city). That additional condition only serves to discourage the use of my EV when traveling to San Jose, or worse, makes me more inclined to take my work outside of San Jose altogether in order to use my EV! Please reconsider your bewildering prerequisite and advise how I should proceed in order to legally avail myself of the EV opportunities which I know the city is striving to support.
Thank you,
Steve Earth
*********************************

 

[mxp]

Yah, if the fine print says "only for EVs purchased from a dealership in San Jose", what good is it for city??

If they open this program up for all EV owners, they can certainly benefit a lot more.

 

[foobert]

Just reviewed the SJ parking permit application I got last week and it indicates that the permits automatically expire June 30, 2012.

Is this an annual program (ala, $30/yr to re-apply), or do just they keep extending it year after year?

Also to correct a previous post, the "vehicle must be registered or purchased in the City of San Jose from a licensed auto dealership"

Emphasis is mine, but, I take it to mean that you could buy it anywhere so long as the DMV registration is in city limits, you are eligible for the permit. Makes a modicum of sense as a privilege extended to city residents.

I find it curious they also extended the privilege to folks patronizing SJ dealerships.

 

[earther]

Also to correct a previous post, the "vehicle must be registered or purchased in the City of San Jose from a licensed auto dealership". Emphasis is mine, but, I take it to mean that you could buy it anywhere so long as the DMV registration is in city limits, you are eligible for the permit. Makes a modicum of sense as a privilege extended to city residents.

Sorry, but I still fail to see the sense in it: do the crafters of this law believe the city residents are going to feel privileged by the dirtier air caused by someone being encouraged to drive their ICE into town or by their now being tempted to do their business outside of San Jose? Presumably the EV drivers who really need the charge the most are those commuting into San Jose from a distance and therefore would NOT be registered within the city limits! It might make logical sense if the charging spaces were so in demand that locals were finding themselves crowded out by the nonresidents, but the reality is that this is far from a problem (I've never seen more than 1 other of the 4+ chargers in use at a time at the 4th St garage, at least when I'm there). Surely a better implementation of the law would be to simply provide the permit for free at the San Jose dealership for those vehicles purchased there, and then allow nonresidents to purchase the permit for $30 directly from the city. It really is win-win, as it would be an added revenue stream for the city. You could restrict it to just Santa Clara county residents, if they're really that fearful of losing car sales/registration tax revenue from people getting better deals out of the area.

Of course, the simplest solution by far would be to simply dump the whole "every city needs their own special sticker" model, and just use the already existing State sticker as being Universal. Simply up the price on the State sticker to $30 with the revenue then getting dispersed to the region of the vehicle's registration. I would bet that was the original intentional of the state sticker, until some lobbyist and/or municipality started getting greedy and figured they could double dip with the permit fees.

 

[foobert]

Presumably the EV drivers who really need the charge the most are those commuting into San Jose from a distance and therefore would NOT be registered within the city limits! It might make logical sense if the charging spaces were so in demand that locals were finding themselves crowded out by the nonresidents...

Uhh, are we talking about the same thing here? The SJ parking permit I'm referring to has nothing to do with access to reserved spaces for *EV charging (as written in the application). It simply grants you street parking without feeding the meter or paying for off street parking in the city owned/operated lots.

Mayhaps there is local signage that says otherwise, but, it seems that out-of-towners are just as able to use charging spaces as a city resident.

One can image that the $30 fee is set to provide a threshold of pain for those of us that rarely visit downtown. However, for the person paying for parking 5 days a week, it's a sizable incentive to go EV and also provides the most ROI for the city toward reducing the "dirtier air" you speak of.

Frankly, its all rather symbolic (and silly) since it doesn't amount to squat from an air/environment perspective until a significant percentage of vehicles have gone zero emission. The point at which that happens any such freebies will be killed due to loss of revenue.

 

[greenleaf]

I find it curious they also extended the privilege to folks patronizing SJ dealerships.

Because the city gets a cut of the sales tax (I believe it is about 1%).

 

[earther]

Uhh, are we talking about the same thing here? The SJ parking permit I'm referring to has nothing to do with access to reserved spaces for *EV charging (as written in the application).

But it does, de facto. Here's a simple case that actually occurred just this weekend. I wanted to travel to downtown SJ and eat at a favorite restaurant. That would be ~$15 into a local business -- good for San Jose economy. I have two choices on how to get there:
(a) I can take my friend's ICE car. The business establishment has their own lot, and so parking would be free.
(b) I can take my Leaf. However, it doesn't have the range to get safely home from the restaurant (at least not on the highway in the chilly night weather), so therefore I would have to charge it up while eating (and I certainly don't mind walking the couple blocks from the 4th St garage to the restaurant, which doesn't have charging). In the current state of affairs, this would cost me an extra $5 since I live outside of SJ.

An extra 33% tacked on to my nightly expenditure is not something I'm regularly willing to do (nor readily afford on my budget, for that matter). I ended up taking my Leaf to my 2nd choice instead, a Gilroy business easily within my range. I'm amenable to paying the San Jose $30 annually for their EV parking permit, but they don't want to accept my money since I'm outside the city limits, which seems the reverse of what they should be doing!