Who pays for a "free" parking space? According to Professor Donald Shoup, all of society does; to put it in our terms, free parking disaggregates the cost of parking a car from the cost of driving the car but does not provide a feedback mechanism to help moderate how people drive and park their cars.
While the idea intrigues me, I don't endorse it; anti-car activists cite the professor's work to support their agenda of forcible adjustment in US driving habits. And I'm not entirely certain that the professor's notion is sound, because I suspect that I can make the same argument about sidewalks, traffic lights, sewers, police offices, fire hydrants, and all the other amenities that make city life possible. I guess I'll just have to wander over the university library...
Topics: · finance · government · transportation
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