Durham leaders want to change your mind about driving downtown

To try to alleviate the congestion, the City of Durham is now using a recently received $100,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies to try to change the way people think about getting downtown.

Durham was one of 35 cities competing for money to try bold ideas to solve problems. Over the next several months, city officials will use the money to try four pilot programs to reduce the number of cars downtown.

"For most people, they just know their car's in the driveway, they've paid for it, their car keys are on the kitchen table, they grab them and go," said transportation planner Mo Devlin. "We want to think that through."

Devlin said the city will tout the benefits of using other forms of transportation, like carpooling, buses and bike sharing. The goal is to reduce demand for parking instead of spending money on new parking decks.

With automated vehicles on the horizon, Devlin said it's hard to envision what parking will look like in 20 or 30 years.

"If we make investments counting on the revenue stream from parking, we might be setting up Durham for our kids and grandkids, where they have these big buildings that aren't working," Devlin said.

The city is working with Duke University on the project, and will apply in August for a larger grant. In October, Bloomberg will award some cities $1 million, and one city will get $5 million to pursue these new ideas.