*UPDATE: This meeting will be held virtually. The City encourages you to participate in the meeting by going to the Zoom meeting link or calling 1-929-205-6099 and enter meeting id 620 794 870 #.*

Did you know that transportation accounts for 29% of carbon emissions in Boston? One way to reach the City’s carbon neutral goal by 2050 is to focus on reducing the use of cars.

The Air Pollution Control Commission has proposed updated parking freeze regulations.

By limiting parking, the freezes help to discourage car travel and improve air quality in Boston. Boston has three parking freezes in Downtown, South Boston, and East Boston. The parking freeze restricts certain types of off-street parking. This proposed regulation update serves to increase uniformity and effectiveness for all three freezes. The revision will expand the annual renewal requirement to Downtown Boston, and unify the administrative procedures.

Why did the APCC propose updates?

This will improve data on how much parking is available in Boston, and improve program administration. The City of Boston is committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2050. Boston’s Climate Action Plan is how it is going to significantly reduce carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. In the 2019 Climate Action Plan Update, it committed to update the parking freeze regulations (it’s one of the steps outlined in Strategy 10: Encourage mode shift through transportation demand management and sustainable parking policies).

The City wants to hear from you.

A public hearing concerning the revisions will be held on March 18, 2020, at 11:30 a.m., in Boston City Hall, Room 900. The revised regulations can be found here or at the address listed below. 

If you would like to provide comments, you can:

• Attend and speak at the public hearing
• Submit comments online through the Public Comment Form
• Send written comments to [email protected] or to The Air Pollution Control Commission, Boston City Hall, Environment Department, Room 709, 1 City Hall Square, Boston, MA 02201

For more info please click here.