The Snow Emergency Rules are Obsolete

I just read them over. They require all parked cars to be removed from a limited number of streets, and no travel on those streets without snow tires or chains. What is really needed in a blizzard this severe is for legally and safely parked cars to just stay put over much of the city, so the plows can work. And buses to be pulled from the streets. But that isn’t what the rule says.

The whole response needs to be re-thought for different scenarios, particularly since severe snowstorms are apparently becomming more common — and people need to be told to get where they are going or stay put ahead of time. The rethinking needs to take into account the fact that the number of vehicles that rely on street parking is right up to the number of potential spaces in many parts of the city. Anyone driving somewhere in these conditions will have no place to park when they get there, other than the middle of the street.

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