Mark sent in this article from Minnesota. The author does an excellent job of summarizing Don Shoup’s book, The High Cost of Free Parking, down into a short story. There are three things that should be done, according to Shoup. First, do away with minimum parking requirements (set by the local governing body), allow on street parking rates to be set so that 1 space per block face (about 15%) is always available, and then take that money and plow it back into the neighborhoods where the parking is located (This makes the rates politically popular).
Mark comments:
I love this line as an explanation of what is wrong with the formulas currently used for determining minimum parking requirements;
“……that’s like defining the demand for food as the most ever consumed at free buffets….”
Maybe if enough articles like this appear in enough media outlets then people will finally “get it”. But then again…………….
Well Said
JVH