Vehicles are consuming more curb space

Storefronts on San Pablo Avenue

Personal vehicles are getting so big! Not long ago people were impressed with the size of SUVs, which are much larger than sedans. But double-cab pickup trucks—the top-selling vehicles in America and growing—make SUVs look small. Shop owners are proprietary over the on-street parking spaces in front of their businesses, but these vehicles are as long as most shopfronts are wide; that doesn’t give a business much parking at the curb and sets up competition between businesses competing for limited space.

Most shops along San Pablo Avenue don’t have the real estate to park customers to the rear of their buildings. On-street parking seems essential, although parking near the Avenue on intersecting streets could fulfill much of the parking need. Aside from car parking, it makes good business sense to encourage access by walking, bicycling (think bike racks), and smaller, self-propelled vehicles for local travel (think scooters, mopeds, and neighborhood electric vehicles, which don’t take much space to park). The increasing number of electric cargo bikes in our area shows a growing interest in shopping by using a variety of vehicles smaller than cars. Businesses shouldn’t just welcome a few customers arriving in big behemoths. Providing secure parking for bikes and other forms of micromobility will deliver customers with modest parking needs — Steve Price