Parking guru Donald Shoup writes for the Cato Institute, a libertarian think-tank, explaining why free markets and free parking go together.
Removing minimum parking requirements, for one, is good public policy that is also good for business, says Shoup:
"Ceasing to require off-street parking gives businesses the freedom to provide as much or as little parking as they like. Cities can remove minimum requirements without imposing maximum limits, and opposition to parking limits should not be confused with support for minimum requirements. Minimum parking requirements may be our most disastrous experiment ever in social engineering, and ceasing to require off-street parking is not social engineering."
Shoup also outlines how performance parking pricing works by supply and demand principles and will not harm local businesses.
FULL STORY: Free Parking or Free Markets
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research