ABSTRACT
Cities create the incentive to cruise when they charge less for curb parking than the price of adjacent off-street parking. The higher price for off-street parking at some sites should increase the average search time or lead drivers to park farther away in cheaper spaces and walk a longer distance to their destinations. Payments for curb parking are rent for the temporary use of public land, and in that sense cruising may be viewed a form of "rent seeking" behavior in response to the potential savings from parking at the curb. The forecasts of available on-street parking will be combined with data from the instrumented parking garages to provide a comprehensive status of parking availability in Cologne's city center at any given time. The model predicts that charging the market price for curb parking—a price at least equal to the price of adjacent off-street parking—removes the economic incentive to cruise.
