Terry Nagel | The High Cost of Free Parking

The High Cost of Free Parking

People have strong opinions about parking in Burlingame. One of the most quoted sources on this topic is "The High Cost of Free Parking" by Donald C. Shoup. Here are some of the points made in this book.

"The High Cost of Free Parking" by Donald C. Shoup
Planners Press, American Planning Association, Chicago & Washington, D.C., 2005,
734 pages.

Free parking really isn’t free.

Average parking space costs more than a car.
Initially developers pay for the required parking, but soon tenants do, and then their
customers.
When we shop, eat in restaurant or see a movie, we pay for parking indirectly.
The total subsidy for parking is staggering, about the size of the Medicare or national defense budgets.

Free parking distorts transportation choices.

Warps urban form
Degrades the environment

Need to re-examine city parking requirements

Remove zoning requirements for off-street parking
Charge fair market prices for curb parking
Use revenue from curb parking to pay for public improvements in the neighborhoods
that generate it
Need not assume all trips will be by car and that all parking should be free.

Distorted Urban Form (p. 129)

Circular cycle: Rising car ownership leads to increasing vehicle travel leads to
declining urban density leads to increasing suburban sprawl leads to declining central
city leads to declining public transit leads to rising car ownership
All of these drive increasing parking requirements
Americans make 87% of their trips by personal motor vehicle
Not only pay for off-street parking but have to look at it.
Aerial view shows much valuable land devoted to parking lots
Reduces area available for housing, commercial uses
Results in high housing costs

Degraded Urban Design (p. 138)

San Francisco established parking requirements in the 1960s
If we had to build North Beach under today’s requirements, much of the vibrant street life would be lost
Suburban mall design: box in a sea of parking (looks like a fried egg: yolk is the
building and white is the parking lot)

A Great Planning Disaster (p. 175)

Planners have misdiagnosed the parking problem as not enough parking spaces

The Cost of Required Parking Spaces (p. 200)

Number of spaces cities require is based on peak demand
When calculating land value of parking space, they make conservative assumptions and don’t include the social cost (lost opportunity, hardship on others)

Public Parking in Lieu of Private Parking (p. 246)

Developers pay fee rather than provide the parking required by zoning. City then uses
the fee revenue to provide public parking spaces.
Encourages shared parking, reduces need for variances, improves urban design,
supports historic preservation
In-lieu fees reveal the high cost of free parking (not to driver, but to others)
Demand for parking will be less if it is expensive
Reduce demand rather than increase supply

Cruising for Parking (p. 277)

George Costanza in "Seinfield" episode about parking: "It’s like going to a prostitute. Why should I pay when, if I apply myself, maybe I can get it for free?"

Turning Small Change into Big Changes (p. 428)

If business improvement districts (BIDs) receive the revenue, every parking meter will resemble a cash register at the curb, and all businesses will see the advantages.

Let Prices Do the Planning (p. 499)

Charge market prices
Carpools, short-term parkers, handicapped and those who place high value on saving time will occupy the best spaces
Solo drivers, long-term parkers, those who enjoy walking and those who place a low value on saving time will occupy peripheral spaces.

Unbundled Parking (p. 575)

Bundled parking hides the cost of owning and using cars, distorts choices and
encourages sprawl.
Unbundled parking reveals the cost of parking, reduces the prices of everything else and gives everyone the option to save money by conserving on cars and driving.

Changing the Future (p. 601)

Suggest three reforms:

Charge fair-market prices for curb parking
Return the resulting revenue to pay for neighborhood public services
Remove the requirements for off-street parking

Result:

Waste less time in traffic
Consume less energy
Import less oil
Breathe cleaner air
Pay less for everything except parking
Have more revenue to pay for local public services
Create parking benefit districts

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The High Cost of Free Parking