ABSTRACT
Universities have adopted two main approaches to campus parking policy—one political and the other economic. The political approach relies on administered rules and regulations, while the economic approach relies on market prices. Research in economics, political science, and urban planning seems to have little impact on parking administrators. Naturally, professors should not expect to decide how to allocate campus parking because universities hire faculty to think and they hire administrators to make decisions. With all the intellect on campus, one would expect universities to teem with creative ideas about how to solve the parking problem. Nevertheless, most universities price parking at average cost and distribute permits according to status or assumed need. Big universities also have big transportation problems, and to solve these problems, a few universities have reformed their pricing policies for both parking and public transportation. The promising results of these reforms suggest that cities can adopt similar policies to reduce congestion, clean the air, and conserve energy.
