ABSTRACT
Parking surveys in Seattle in 2000, for example, found "spaces were often readily open in off-street pay lots, although on-street parking was full to overflowing." Everyone intuitively understands the choice between cruising and paying, but the people know almost nothing about the collective consequences of cruising. Journalists often discuss cruising, and the New York Times sometimes gives tips on how to do it properly. John Falcocchio, Jose Darsin, and Elena Prassas are the only academics who have attempted to estimate the time it takes to find a curb space in New York and the share of traffic that is cruising. To explore the causes and consequences of cruising, Robert Saltzman of San Francisco State University developed a simulation model of cruising for parking. Like all social behavior, cruising is a complex phenomenon, and it can be done even without parking.
