Classifying Vehicles

The city of Newton (and every other city or town in the commonwealth) ought to have priority parking for smaller cars. There ought to be smaller, better placed spaces (which costs less to build and maintain) for smaller cars.

Unfortunately, nobody considers theirs a big car. There are a bunch of parking garages in the area with "compact cars only" spaces, but with definitively not compact cars in them.

Part of the problem may be that the definitions are not obvious. Betcha didn't know that, according to the EPA, a compact car is one with passenger and cargo volumes under 110 cubic feet. Huh?

So, how can cities and towns have meaningful parking policies that properly favor smaller cars? What if the commonwealth put the EPA class (or a Massachussets equivalent) on the inspection sticker? Motorists and parking enforcers would know a car's classification.

In London, they are considering charging for parking based on car length.