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Abstract

In The High Cost of Free Parking, Donald Shoup argues that minimum parking requirements distort transportation choices, debase urban design, damage the economy, and degrade the environment. He contends that cities have made devastating mistakes with their parking policies, and proposes three basic reforms to undo the damage caused by nearly a century of bad planning: (1) remove off-street parking requirements, (2) charge fair market prices for on-street parking to achieve about an 85-percent occupancy rate for curb spaces, and (3) return the resulting revenue to pay for public improvements in the metered neighborhoods. Some American cities have adopted these policies, and Shoup will report on the results.