This fall, the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) will launch a two-year citywide pilot program that will promote car sharing by designating about 300 street parking spaces for exclusive use by participating carshare companies (h/t Bklyner). The city hopes that the pilot will help reduce car ownership across the city, alleviate congestion, and result in less air pollution.

The program seeks to mimic other pilots that have proven successful in cities like Baltimore, San Francisco, and Seattle. The DOT will designate zones for street parking in 15 different neighborhoods that include East Harlem and Hamilton Heights in Manhattan; Williamsburg, Park Slope, and Carroll Gardens in Brooklyn; Jamaica and Jackson Heights in Queens; and Soundview in the Bronx.

“With reliable access to a car, New Yorkers may decide to do away with their own wheels and save on car insurance, gas, maintenance, tickets, and other expenses involved in owning a vehicle,” DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

The DOT will implement two spaces at a time on the curbs of residential areas that are regulated for alternate side parking. New signage will indicate that the spaces are for “Carshare Parking Only” and the NYPD has been given authority to issue tickets or tow away non-carshare vehicles that illegally park in the spaces.

There will also be an off-street portion of the pilot program where parking spaces within municipal parking facilities will offer either 10 percent or up to ten parking spaces (whichever is less) to carshare companies.

Partnering companies will be required to report information to the city, giving clearer insight as to where cars are being used and how often. After the pilot program, the city will determine what the best long-term approach to carsharing will be.

The city will announce the pilot’s partner companies this fall. Once they do, New Yorkers will be able to apply for membership with the company of their choice. As for now, the DOT is accepting feedback on where residents think carshare parking spaces should be located in their neighborhoods.