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Hybrid car - free parking Ordinance Being Discussed. (http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_207124730.html)

CBS 2 Chicago - July 26, 2006

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/HCH-II-Euro.jpg
2006 HCH-II may park for free in Chicago.

CHICAGO If a proposed ordinance passes the City Council; you may never have to pay for public parking again if you buy a hybrid car.

Los Angeles, San Antonio, and some other cities already have similar laws on the books.

Ald. Rey Colon (35th) is introducing the new ordinance at the council meeting Wednesday.

Los Angeles, San Antonio, and some other cities already have similar laws on the books.

Colon said one way to pay for the free parking would be to raise parking meter rates for non-hybrid vehicles.

Just think - Walmart and Home Depot workers might be able to park downtown! :D

just kidding!

Some of you might be aware Chicago might raise the minimum wage for "big box" stores.

I like the free hybrid parking - I'd used it gladly during HybridFest taking pictures of the Sears Tower. :)

If you remember the HOV threads, California and Northern Virginia are having problems with too many hybrids using that perk, so I'd expect the law - if passed to be modified as more hybrids are driven....

Hi Chuck:

___Not only do the Walmart and Home Depot workers get a living wage, they will be able to afford 2 hybrid’s on their $9.25/hour income + $1.50/hour in benefits until 2010 when it jumps to $10.00 per and $3.00 per in benefits … I know, another story for a different forum :(

___As for hybrids crowding up the streets of Chicago and grabbing all that free parking, probably not in the near future. There are only 14 hybrids registered in the entire state of IL. and most of those were at Hybridfest last weekend :D Seriously though, I do not see that many hybrids in and around the Chicago area as one would have imagined given the population density and especially gas prices downtown. Sales will increase mightily if that City ordinance were to go through though!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Wayne, do you mean that the crowd passing thru the Windy City saved them an Ozone Action day? :D

Hi Chuck:

___Another issue altogether although I do have to say that the air appears relatively clear in the city on most days due to the prevailing SW winds moving the SMOG out over the lake. We do have Ozone alert days however which is just one reason why we are stuck with Winter and Summer RFG w/ E10 :(

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Being 50 miles from the Gulf does not spare Houston from Ozone days. They are in a dead heat with LA for worst air in the US. :(

Just as an FYI, that picture is the JDM Civic Hybrid, which is why the headlights look different. :)

Hi Brandon:

___Actually it is a UK sourced HCH-II although the laws and regulations of both Japan and the UK may be equivalent?

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Probably. I imagine it would be easy to copy the design over since UK and Japan are the two major RHD markets.

From Honda.co.jp:
http://www.honda.co.jp/CIVIC/image/main.jpg

Off-topic, I know, but the JDM / UK-spec HCH headlights aren't just cosmetically different. They're HIDs. The CDN Acura version of the Civic gets them, too. Everyone but us... :(

Note the difference (improvement, IMO) in the front fascia, as well. They have some other content differences between our cars also (leather interior being among them, which I don't really care about, and heated seats, which I do...thankfully there are companies like Webasto around ;))

Finally, the UK-spec car that Xcel posted the pic of looks like it's in a color similar to the Fiji Blue that's only available on the Si coupe in the US. Or maybe it's in the 'Neutron Blue'...can't tell for sure.

I would have waited six months for my car if Fiji Blue had been available on the hybrid. :( Of course, Honda probably would have exclusively specified tan/ivory interior for it, too, knowing them... :rolleyes:

Oh, and to bring things back on topic. I'd love to see 'free meter parking for hybrids' instituted. I'd save a bundle in quarters, time, and worry. However, being a lifelong resident of Chicago until about 3.5 years ago, I know parking tickets a-plenty would be written by Chicago's finest for the Civic Hybrid, since it looks so similar to the non-hybrid versions, and us HCH owners would spend all that saved time/energy above getting the tickets resolved. :mad:

Got my class 1 hitch for the car via UPS today. Gonna go install it now :p

Hi Mark:

___I cannot wait to see if the Hybrid – Free Parking will pass although that won’t help me any :(

___I did not know about you picking up a hitch. A Hidden hitch or something else? Can you take some underbody picks of the before, during install, and after for future HCH-II’ers? Given your ability for prose, a paragraph into the Honda or HW forum would be an excellent addition!

___Thanks in advance.

___Wayne