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What's Next For Albany Parking Permit Program?

  Albany's downtown residential parking permit program is experiencing growing pains. Officials are scratching their heads - permit applications are down by half in the program's second year - no one is quite sure why.
 
"I drive though there quite a bit to see a number of open spots during the day and I recognize that it's fairly easy to park now during the day." Albany Police Chief Steve Krokoff says new technology has made enforcement easier and more precise. 
 
Assembly members Pat Fahy and John McDonald along with state Senator Neil Breslin have sponsored a bill that would expand the permit system's pilot period from two to four years so officials would have more data to use in determining whether the program is functioning as it should.  It sunsets February 15th of 2015.
 
Should the measure fail to pass in June, the Legislature won't get another chance to vote on it until January 2015 - close to the expiration date.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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