ABSTRACT
Traffic congestion discourages vehicle travel, while parking fees specifically discourage solo driving. Estimates of parking and trip generation respond to a real demand for essential information about the consequences of land-use decisions. Free curb parking may be the most costly subsidy American cities provide for most of their citizens. Parking charges complement congestion tolls, and Edward Calthrop, Stef Proost, and Kurt Van Dender showed that parking fees and congestion tolls combined would make transportation much more efficient than would either one alone. Parking fees are sometimes recommended to reduce congestion. Although the basic problem is seen to be the absence of congestion tolls, parking fees are proposed as a way to compensate for the political reluctance to impose the tolls. Cities require a specific number of parking spaces for every land use, but no city collects data on its total parking supply.
