STAFF EDIT: Long-term car solution needed

Every big city has parking problems. But after poorly parked cars prevented fire fighters from saving a young girl’s life, it became obvious that Boston has more cars than it can safely deal with. While Boston Mayor Thomas Menino’s plans to combat the city’s congestion issues, announced Monday, are a good start for the short term, Boston officials must begin to think outside the box for better long-term solutions.

Under Menino’s plans, the city would more strictly enforce parking laws throughout the city, prevent double parking on streets in South Boston where it has become routine and open 34 city-owned parking lots to overnight residents, according to The Boston Globe. Boston officials are also working to make the city’s parking signs more clear, especially in the areas near last week’s tragedy, according to the Globe.

City parking laws undoubtedly need clearer definition and stricter enforcement, as last week’s events showed. The mayor’s tougher policies are very appropriate, though they should have been enacted long ago, before poor parking habits developed. Plans to open city parking lots overnight, during hours when they mostly go unused, is also a smart plan, allowing residents to more easily find parking in close proximity to their places of residence.

But recent trends make it brutally obvious that the city needs a more comprehensive long-term parking plan. Boston’s car population has increased by 36 percent since 1995, while the human population has increased only 3 percent since 1990, according to the Globe. Boston officials must get to the bottom of the city’s recent car explosion and formulate a plan for not only stemming the tide of car use in the city, but for creating incentives that encourage residents to utilize the city’s very accessible public transportation system.

City officials should think outside the box for new and innovative solutions to a problem that all cities deal with.