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Evidence Base Home » Transportation » Parking regulations and land use patterns can contribute to increased driving and costs

Articles in Parking regulations and land use patterns can contribute to increased driving and costs.

  • When land is used for roads, users pay no rent or property taxes (as opposed to other uses of land, such as market activities or greenspace). Failure to consider roadway land value underprices road transport relative to rail, which pays rent and taxes on right-of-way, and underprices transport relative to other goods, reducing economic efficiency.

    Litman T. Transportation costs & benefits: resources for measuring transportation costs and benefits. Victoria, BC: Victoria Transport Policy Institute; 2009. Available at: http://www.vtpi.org/tdm/tdm66.htm. Accessed July 22, 2009.

  • Allotted parking supply often goes unused. Studies of parking use in places ranging from office buildings to shopping plazas to big box retail showed between 28-79%, averaging 48%. One study reported that on the busiest hour of the year at a shopping center, parking use did not exceed 85%.

    Gruen, Gruen, & Associates. Employment and Parking in Suburban Business Parks: A Pilot Study. Washington DC: Urban Land Institute; 1986.

  • Often parking requirements are even higher than parking generation rates. Surveys in several cities found that they require an average of 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet, and that parking requirements ranged from 33-43% greater than the parking generation rate.

    Shaw J. Planning for Parking. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Public Policy Center; 1997.

  • Parking generation studies are based on estimates of demand during peak periods in suburban communities with no public transit option. Thus, most projects require more than enough parking spaces to satisfy need and encourage residents to choose to drive.

    Shoup D. The High Cost of Free Parking. Chicago, IL: Planners Press; 2001.

  • Compensating for the subsidized price of free parking would take an increase in the gas tax of between $1.27 and $3.74 a gallon to offset the subsidy for off-street parking.

    Delucci M. The annualized social cost of motor-vehicle use in the US, 1990-1991: summary of theory, data, methods, and results. 1998. Available at: http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/publications/2004/UCD-ITS-RR-96-03(01)_rev1.pdf. Accessed July 22, 2009.

  • All told, an 8.8 mile trip has an external cost of $1.41.

    University of California, Los Angeles. Intramural Field Parking Structure Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 1999091001), May 2001.
    Shoup D. The High Cost of Free Parking. Chicago, IL: Planners Press. 2005.

  • The emissions cost of a parking space is $44 a month per space. This equals $0.06 per VMT.

    Shoup D. The High Cost of Free Parking. Chicago, IL: Planners Press; 2005.

  • Congestion cost: $73 a month per space. 1,500 new parking spaces will generate 5,630 one-way vehicle trips per weekday, or 3.8 trips a day per space. With an average 8.8 mile trip to campus, that makes 727 vehicle miles traveled per month per space. Models have proposed that an average cost of reducing congestion on Los Angeles's freeways would be 0.10 cents per VMT. Thus, 727 X 0.10 = $73 a month per spaces in congestion costs.

    Shoup D. Evaluating the effects of cashing out employer-paid parking: eight case studies. Transport Policy. 1997;4(4):201-216.

  • Employer paid parking increases commuter parking demand by about 1/3 compared to driver-paid parking. Lower cost or free parking leads to more driving.

    Shoup D. Evaluating the effects of cashing out employer-paid parking: eight case studies. Transport Policy. 1997;4(4):201-216.