The long debate is over — women are better at parking than men!

Who Finds a Parking Space Quicker?

Women are better at finding a parking space. They’re more patient and drive a little slower while looking, so they’re better equipped to glimpse that empty spot or see when someone is about to leave a parking space. Disclosure: this study focused on public parking garages, not street parking.

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Who Has a Better Pre-Parking Pose?

It’s all in the preparation. If you start out correctly, then it’s really easy to park perfectly and impress all those around you. But if you try to wing it, then you’ll be going between Drive and Reverse enough times to embarrass yourself. Once again, women ranked higher in this category with 77% scoring ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’ vs 53% of the men getting the thumbs up.

Back Into the Spot or Just Drive Right In?

Even before the women started parking, nearly 40% of them knew they were going to use Instructor Approved ‘Rear Entry Method’ to get into the parking space. Only 28% of the men chose this method, leaving the other 72% to tackle the parking space head on.

Who Gets in the Parking Space the Fastest?

The men were definitely faster, getting their vehicles parked in 16 seconds. The women took 21 seconds. If we park our cars about 3 times a day, and drive for about 50 years, that could mean that women spend 12 days just parking. Men? They get away with just 9 days.

Drive, Reverse, Drive, Reverse

It’s called the ‘Reposition Shuffle’ when you go back and forth between Drive and Reverse to get into the parking space. Who does is more? Women weren’t happy with their first attempt and 56% of them did the shuffle to get better positioned. The men were much happier with their efforts, and only 29% of them felt the need to keep moving the vehicle.

Where Does the Car End Up?

This study gave the highest importance to the cars being parking ‘Centrally’ in the allotted space. Women did this just over half of the time, whereas the men — who got into the space quicker and wanted out, had a ‘Central Finish’ only 25% of the time.

*Study was conducted by National Car Parks (NCP) in the UK, by studying CCTV footage of 453 drivers parking in public parking garages and another 2,000 drivers. The parking spaces were 90 degree stalls, perpendicular to the driving lanes.

Margot Tohn of Park It spends her day coming up with ways to make driving, parking and walking in NYC easier. Check out her musings at www.parkitnyc.com.

Brought to you by Park It! NYC

Going to the 2011 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade? Here’s what you need to know about watching the parade and parking.

Parade Route

The parade starts at 9am from Central Park West and 77th Street and goes down Central Park West to Columbus Circle at 59th St. It takes a left on to Central Park South (59th St), then goes down 7th Avenue to 42nd Street. The parade then goes left on 42nd St to 6th Avenue, then down 6th Avenue to 34th Street. Once on 34th St, travels along 34th Street to Macy’s Herald Square.

Where to Park

Ulltra Car Park — 359 9th Avenue @ 30th Street. Outdoor lot. $14 enter by 10am & exit by 7pm, $22 for 10 hours to midnight, $30 for 24 hours or overnight, $10 extra for Vans & SUVs.

Central Parking — 147 W 83rd St & 157 W 83rd St, between Columbus and Amsterdam. $27 for 6 hours, $32 for 12 hours. Print the coupon here to get these rates. Oversized vehicles may have a surcharge.

QuikPark — 305 W 46th St and 328 W 56th St bet 8th & 9th Aves, W 68th & W 70th bet Freedom Place & Riverside Blvd. $30 flat rate at all locations. Oversized vehicles may have a surcharge.

Since the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is on the West side of Manhattan, your best NYC parking garage deals will be either on the East Side or way West. Most of the NYC parking garages will have an Event Rate on Thanksgiving Day ranging from $30 – $55. Look for:

Early Bird Special near 1st or 2nd Aves from 55th – 80th Sts, then walk or take a crosstown bus to Central Park West. Early Bird Specials will range from $12 – $20, and you have to be in the garage by 9 – 11am and leave usually by early evening. Check out the $14 rate below.

Flat Day Rates farther West, near 11th or 12th Aves.

Park on the Street, because NYC parking meters and Alternate Side Parking regulations are not in effect. But watch those NYC parking signs — if the sign says ‘No Stopping, No Standing, or No Parking Anytime’, then you cannot park there.

Stay Tuned! We’re Waiting for more NYC Parking Garages to Give us their Special Thanksgiving Day Rates!

Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Public Viewing Areas

• Central Park West: West side of street from 70th St to Columbus Circle & east side of street from 70th to 65th
• Columbus Circle: West side of street
• 7th Ave: between 58th & 42nd Sts
• 42nd St: from 7th to 6th Aves
• 6th Ave: between 42nd & 34th Sts
• 34th St: south side of street between Broadway & 7th Ave

Watch the Balloons Getting Blown up on Wednesday Night

A long-standing tradition is the annual blowing up of the massive balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. It goes from 3am – 10pm on Wednesday, November 23rd near the American Museum of Natural History just off Central Park West between 77th St. and 81st St.

Check out the Official Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade site.

Margot Tohn of Park It spends her day coming up with ways to make driving, parking and walking in NYC easier. Check out her musings at www.parkitnyc.com.

Our fantastic friends over at New York Parking Ticket blew us away with this news. Mayor Bloomberg has rejected five proposals that would ensure NYC parking tickets are issued correctly. New York Parking Ticket put together this fabulous chart of the proposed changes put forth by the NY City Council Transportation Committee. Only the last one was approved by Mayor Bloomberg.

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Ticket Agent has to photograph the vehicle — OK, we agree that this seems a bit onerous. NYPD officers would have to carry a camera and document each photo.

Suspending Alternate Side Parking regulations when film crews are on the Street – this will let people actually park when a film crew is taking up street parking spots. Given that NYC charges film production companies to use the street, that could offset the potential revenue from parking fines. On the other hand, it could really mess up the street cleaning schedule.

Adding Bar Codes to parking Placards — this seems to make a lot of sense to us. If a NYC Parking Placard is valid, then what’s the harm in confirming it on-site? The major drawback is the NYC Traffic Agents would have to carry handheld scanners or readers to read the barcode. That’s expensive. And who is to say that someone with a Parking Placard shouldn’t be parking somewhere? There are 118,000 NYC Parking Placards issued to police, government officials, and clergy. These placards let the user park almost anywhere. Last year the city issued 30,000 summonses for invalid placards, according to CBS News.

Judges have to dismiss a NYC parking ticket if the parker can show a valid muni-meter receipt — we have to say, this seems fair. Sometimes you place the NYC muni meter receipt on your dashboard correctly and it just blows away, or turns over, when you shut your car door.

Give a 1 Day Parking Permit for People who are Moving — what do you think about this? We’d need to see data on how many NYC parking violations are issued for people who are moving.

Get rid of Late Fees until 30 Days after a Final Judgment –we agree, and so did Mayor Bloomberg. After all, why should you be penalized if the NYC Traffic System is making a decision?

Margot Tohn of Park It spends her day coming up with ways to make driving, parking and walking in NYC easier. Check out her musings at www.parkitnyc.com.