Traffic is strangling New York’s economic vitality and quality of life, while the city’s transit system creaks because of chronic underinvestment. One solution, congestion pricing, would undoubtedly reduce traffic and generate desperately needed revenue for transit. But this has proved politically difficult in New York, both when attempted in 2007 and again this year. Congestion pricing asks people to pay to drive on roads they used to drive on without charge, so the politics won’t get easier anytime soon.

There is a good alternative. New York could use a parking-based approach to achieve much of the same congestion management and revenue goals. This has three elements.

First, the city would prohibit garage operators from selling parking by the month. Monthly parking is like an all-you-can-eat buffet — if the parking next to your office is already paid for, why not drive to work every day? Whether someone takes a car to work really matters because such trips are usually at peak times when alternatives are most viable — that’s when trains and buses run most frequently and it’s easiest to car pool.

Requiring parking to be sold by the hour is like moving from all-you-can-eat to à la carte. Even if the hourly cost is the same as what’s implied in a monthly rate ($400 a month is equivalent to about $2.50 per hour if you park 40 hours a week), simply ensuring that people pay for parking every time they drive in will change how they decide to make some trips and, as a result, reduce congestion. Garage operators could still charge whatever they like, but would be required to price parking in a way that will reduce traffic.