But – the “Parking Rock Star” doesn’t buy into parking “APPS”

They are emerging. You can get apps to help you find parking spaces. I commented below on the problem of getting parking information on your cell/smart phone. (You can’t look at it and drive safely).

There are apps to help you find a parking meter in Manhattan that is broken (you can park free for an hour) and others that give you information about garages near a certain address. Whooppie.

So a local blogger asked Don Shoup what he thought about all this. His comment was classic:

“I guess that I’m skeptical about all these apps,” Shoup said, “in part because I think the main problem is mispricing of curb parking rather than any lack of information.”

You can check out the entire article here

Don’s point is that if you set the rates properly, there will always be enough space. Set the rates so that there is always one space or so available per block space. The problem of finding parking goes away. If people don’t want to pay that price, they can quickly find an off street cheaper space, or simply not drive into the area.

I don’t understand why this is so difficult to understand. Let the market do its job. Proper Pricing will allow spaces to be available. All the information technology on the planet won’t help if there are no spaces available.

There’s along article in the local paper that describes Santa Monica’s proposed solution to its downtown parking dearth. They are setting close in parking higher to entice people to park in cheaper lots on the edge of town and use shuttles (or their feet) to get to the downtown shopping area.

The author is high on walking. He says folks should walk to make the planet green and for their own health. If they park five or six blocks from the Promenade in SM, they can walk, or if they like take a cheap shuttle. If they want to park nearby, they can pay the increased rates. Problem solved.

Technology doesn’t solve parking problems, the good old free market does.

Thanks to Josh and Sandra

JVH