Parking

While critiquing one of my blog posts, Prof. Randall Crane asked: "Is any parking regulation a net social burden or only 1.75 spaces per Jacksonville, Florida apartment?" This question in turn is an example of a broader question: how do we resolve an issue when we don’t know, and perhaps have no way of knowing, the ideal empirical answer? Parking regulation presents a classic example: looking at environmental harm alone, it seems to me clear that minimum parking requirements create some environmental harm by on balance encouraging driving, but also reduce environmental harm from "cruising" (motorists wasting time and fuel searching for parking spaces).*

October 26, 2010 - Michael Lewyn

In the last 2 years, New York's Broadway has given up 3.5 miles of traffic lanes and parking to bike lanes and pedestrian access, and gained a significant improvement in congestion and accident rates.

September 24, 2010 - New Urban Network

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) begins a two-year tryout of new parking technologies.

September 20, 2010 - New Urban Network

Unlike at other beach resorts, the New Smyrna Beach traffic accidents happen on the beach itself. Sea turtles receive protection from the traffic allowed on the beach, but not children. On Sept. 5, a 4-year was run over fatally, the 2nd this year.

September 12, 2010 - The New York Times - U.S.

Urbanists have rightfully been wary of libertarianism in the past, says Stephen Smith, but a new crop of Jane Jacobs-loving libertarians could change that perception.

August 26, 2010 - Market Urbanism

Higher parking meter prices have helped allow more people to park in the Brooklyn neighborhood even while easing congestion.

August 25, 2010 - Streetsblog

Los Angeles is planning to undertake a year-long experiment in demand-based pricing on parking in its downtown. The dynamic parking system will be put in place next summer.

August 24, 2010 - Los Angeles Times

This op-ed from The New York Times looks at the economics of free parking, and argues that many of those spaces should have a price tag.

August 16, 2010 - The New York Times

Neighbors are in uproar over a 71-unit affordable housing project planned on a bus-turnaround in a residential area of San Francisco because it provides only 7 parking spaces. Is smart growth planning getting ahead of itself by becoming top-down?

August 4, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco has begun a two-year test of variably-priced parking meters in an effort to see how pricing affects driving and parking decisions in parts of the city.

July 31, 2010 - San Francisco Chronicle

Sausalito, just across the Bay from SF, has replaced attendants with pay stations in four parking lots. While embedded sensors monitor vehicle activity in the lots, residents are given a tag to hang in their vehicles providing 3 hours free parking.

July 27, 2010 - Marin Independent Journal

(NOTE TO READERS: An expanded, footnote-filled version of this article is online at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1632935 )   Externalities are costs (or benefits) imposed on third parties by another individual’s voluntary action.  Government regulations exist at least partially to protect us from externalities created by others.

July 1, 2010 - Michael Lewyn

Double-parking can be hazardous to cyclists. But police in San Francisco aren't enforcing the law when double-parking happens during church services. Some argue that the rule of law must be followed.

June 20, 2010 - The New York Times

Grist's Jonathan Hiskes spoke with smart growth leaders to devise strategies that municipalities, as opposed to U.S. government, can take to lessen oil dependency - that are financially sustainable, not overly dependent on technology, and ready to go

June 8, 2010 - Grist

San Francisco's transportation agency has proposed the installation of parking meters in a handful of neighborhoods that dynamically change their prices according to the time of day and the related demand.

June 3, 2010 - San Francisco Examiner

In Seattle, parking spaces are reserved for people who carpool into downtown. But in recent years, an increasing amount of those parking spaces are empty.

May 21, 2010 - Seattle Weekly

There are various ways to define building sustainability. A narrow perspective assumes that sustainable development simply means that buildings minimize energy consumption and climate change emissions, but a broader perspective recognizes that sustainability requires consideration of additional economic, social and other environmental impacts, such as lifecycle affordability, social equity, community integration, public health and safety, and land use impacts.

May 20, 2010 - Todd Litman

Marketplace reports on the parking market from NYC. Peak hour parking is being applied on Sixth Ave in Greenwich Village as a trial to increase parking availability and decrease congestion. Due to positive results, it's now being tried in Brooklyn.

May 7, 2010 - Marketplace (American Public Media - Radio)

The Atlanta City Council voted unanimously to approve a 30-day moratorium on enforcing the city's privately managed parking meters.

May 6, 2010 - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A new report from CEOs for Cities shows that New Yorkers save a lot of moola on their transportation costs because of their city's walkability and transit options.

April 22, 2010 - Streetsblog