3 Enormous Benefits to Charging the Right Price for Parking

Costanza's universal theory of parking states that drivers should never pay for a spot because, if they apply themselves, they'll get it for free. Most U.S. cities do everything they can to abide the theory. They undervalue the price of street spaces. They keep parking so cheap it encourages driving (and thus undermines their own transit investments, leading to more driving). And they require a minimum number of parking spaces for new developments whether residents need them or not.

These policies conspire to create a situation in which even someone as lazy as George Costanza can eventually find a free — or, at least, very cheap — parking space in the city. But what's thrilling for Georgie Boy (assuming no one steals his space by pulling in head first) is bad for the city as a whole. Three recent studies highlight big benefits to setting the right price for city parking: less traffic, more transit use, and greater tax revenue.