~ MFP-DTL-DUF-DTE-A-WMTCBSMPE ~ Mandatory Free Parking – Disfigures The Landscape – Distorts Urban Form – Damages The Environment – And – Wastes Money That Could Be Spent More Productively Elsewhere

~ BWNS-TMWSOP-IASSEIPFI ~ Because We Never See – The Money We Spend On Parking – It Always Seems Someone Else Is Paying For It

~ PWABFWLIPAC-B-IIAGMTTPSBFE ~ Parking Will Always Be Free Where Land Is Plentiful And Cheap – But – It Is A Grave Mistake To Think Parking Should Be Free Everywhere

~ FCP-B-FAVCSOR-C-A-CFP-AC-CP-DWTTCTBWWFACTL-A-ISDT-CT-WF-A-PTA ~ Free Curb Parking – But – Finding A Vacant Curb Space Often Requires – Cruising – And – Cruising For Parking – A Classic – Commons Problem – Drivers Waste Their Time Circling The Block While Waiting For Another Car To Leave – And – In So Doing They – Congest Traffic – Waste Fuel – And – Pollute The Air

~ A-SAFMSFAFCSINAGBFID-I-AC-AA-MCHCA-CFP-I-ATCCOE-GASAO-EVT-WAAAOF-A-PCLOAP

~ Although – Spending A Few Minutes Searching For A Free Curb Space Is Not A Great Burden For Individual Drivers – Its – Aggregate Consequences – Are Astonishing – Many Cities Have Congested Areas – Cruising For Parking – In – All The Congested Cities On Earth – Generates A Stupendous Amount Of – Excess Vehicle Traffic – Wastes An Astronomical Amount Of Fuel – And – Produces Catastrophic Levels Of Air Pollution

~ MNCBH-PLOS-BTTBT ~ Most New Commercial Buildings Have – Parking Lots Or Structures – Bigger Than The Buildings Themselves

~ AT-FP-I-CFC ~ All This – Free Parking – Is – Charity For Cars

~ BPCSMAMPSLFI-THSITG-SSMTSPDATTS-L-UP-TE-A-TE-AITWD ~ Because Parking Costs So Much And Motorists Pay So Little For It – The Hidden Subsidy Is Truly Gigantic – Spending So Much To Subsidize Parking Dramatically Alters The Transportation System – Land-Use Patterns – The Economy – And – The Environment – All In The Wrong Direction

~ AFVOAPPI-T-CSK-NOWIBD-BA-HMICAWWP ~ A Fundamental Virtue Of Any Public Policy Is – Transparency – Citizens Should Know – Not Only What Is Being Done – But Also – How Much It Costs And Who Will Pay

~ TSOFPINT:TSFII-NJHBAH ~ The Source Of Free Parking Is Not Transparent: The Subsidy For It Is – Not Just High But Also Hidden

~ APITSBLUIC-IHMTBAPOSE-ARRTAP ~ Although Parking Is The Single Biggest Land Use In Cities – It Has Managed To Become Always Part Of Something Else – A Right Rather Than A Privilege

~ STNMWABTSTMMRASEI-B-TNOPWACIS-A-TPPIES ~ Saddling The Nonmotoring Minority With A Burden To Subsidize The Motoring Majority Raises A Serious Equity Issue – But – The Number Of People With A Complaint Is Small – And – Their Political Power Is Even Smaller

~ PR-HAHOOUC-TITCAAP-DUF-DUD-IHC-LH-DTUE-HTCBD-A-PPF-TAIEC ~ Parking Requirements – Have A Host Of Other Unintended Consequences – They Increase Traffic Congestion And Air Pollution – Distort Urban Form – Degrade Urban Design – Increase Housing Costs – Limit Homeownership – Damage The Urban Economy – Harm The Central Business District – And – Penalize Poor Families – They Also Increase Energy Consumption

~ P-ME-PRFELU-B-TH-AN-TOD-THTEHMPSAR-‘N’-TDK-H-PRHBASBTWB-AS-TCTTWA-HTPRWE ~ Planners – Must Establish – Parking Requirements For Every Land Use – But – They Have – Almost No – Theory Or Data – To Help Them Estimate How Many Parking Spaces Are Really – “Needed” – They Do Know – However – Parking Requirements Have Been Around Since Before They Were Born – And So – They Continue The Tradition Without Asking – How The Parking Requirements Were Established

~ S-FPATNFP-HEW-WNM-87P-OAOT-BC ~ Self-Fulfilling Prophecies About The Need For Parking – Help Explain Why – We Now Make – 87 Percent – Of All Our Trips – By Car

~ P-IOOTMHRAOULU-A-TRAOB ~ Parking – Is One Of The Most Heavily Regulated Aspects Of Urban Land Use – And – The Regulations Are Often Bewildering

~ ICBT-CMPFCP-A-STRT-IN-FGAUTVTEADAPRFTCOUDMOTACR-DCSP-TJHTP-A-TRBE ~ If Cities Begin To – Charge Market Prices For Curb Parking – And – Spend The Revenue To – Improve Neighborhoods – Future Generations Are Unlikely To View This Enclosure As Diminishing Anyone’s Personal Responsibility For The Community Or Unfairly Dispossessing Motorists Of Their Ancient Commoning Rights – Drivers Can Still Park – They Just Have To Pay – And – The Results Benefit Everyone

~ B-TCOFPAE-A-TB-TMOET-ASIC ~ But – The Costs Of Free Parking Are Enormous – And – The Benefits – The More One Examines Them – Are Small In Comparison

~ FCP-HSID-A-IHTG ~ Free Curb Parking – Has Served Its Day – And – It Has To Go

~ T-SOP-LB-PP-AOE-A-CWOA-ATO ~ The – Spectrum Of Possibilities – Lying Between – Private Property – At One End – And – A Commons With Open Access – At The Other

~ NOWTPFP-TWNC-B-WWTPFA?-WPFTBWHT-NBWWT-A-RRTTMN-WCA-NC-WWTCFCP ~ No One Wants To Pay For Parking – That Will Never Change – But – Who Wants To Pay For Anything? – We Pay For Things Because We Have To – Not Because We Want To – And – Returning Revenue To The Metered Neighborhoods – Will Create A – Necessary Constituency – Who Want To Charge For Curb Parking

~ GTPOCPRWDAWOG ~ Getting The Price Of Curb Parking Right Will Do A World Of Good

~ WCA-E-S/E/E-B-AANC-SB-S-PAP-N-PAC ~ We Can Achieve – Enormous – Social / Economic / Environmental – Benefits – At Almost No Cost – Simply By – Subsidizing – People And Places – Not – Parking And Cars