El problema:
Pocas ideas convertidas en politica publica ubicua y arraigada han hecho mas daño a nuestros centros urbanos que los reglamentos municipales de construccion y de establecimientos mercantiles que requieren minimos espacios de estacionamiento en todos los proyectos de construccion.
Donald Shoup en su libro "El Alto Costo del Estacionamiento Gratis" llama a esta politica un "gran desastre de planeacion". Esta practica nos ha conducido a la destruccion masiva de numerosos edificios de valor historico solo para crear lotes de estacionamiento. Ha hecho de muchos de los edificios historicos remanentes, que sean economicamente irrelevantes, no permitiendo el cambio de usos de esos edificios sin añadir estacionamientos prohibitvamente caro. Esta politica ha sido la causa de que los centros historicos y de negocios, diseñados para el peaton, se hayan vaciado minando la vitalidad economica y la integridad cultural. Ha forzado la creacion de nuevos centros urbanos ausentes de belleza y carentes de escala humana y ha causado el que vastas zonas urbanas, tanto nuevas como viejas, sean feas e indeseables para vivir y trabajar.
Para exacerbar el tema, la mayor parte del estacionamiento requerido, debe proporcionarse 'gratis' por ley. El estacionamiento viene 'gratis' con nuestro departamento, o es 'gratis' cuando compramos en el centro comercial. Los automovilistas pueden aparcarse a todo lo largo y ancho del pais sin pagar directamente por ello. Desgraciadamente, todo este estacionamiento 'gratis', externaliza y oculta el costo real de estacionamiento y por tanto el verdadero costo de poseer y operar un automovil. Externalizar el costo de cualquier bien incrementa la demanda por ese bien y es el caso con el poseer, conducir y estacionar autos. Requerir estacionamiento 'gratis' fuera de calle esta matando nuestras ciudades al inducir la demanda para mas autos y mas espacios para almacenar estos autos Cuando almacenas autos en areas urbanas, creas huecos en el tejido urbano a nivel de calle, eliminas lugares para la gente y el comercio y haces nuestras ciudades poco atractivas e inseguras
Por supuesto, como señala el Dr. Shoup, la verdad incomoda sobre el estacionamiento 'gratis', es que estacionarse nunca es gratis. Ni siquiera cerca de serlo. De hecho es increiblemente caro de construir y conservar no es gratis, especialmente en nuestros densos centros urbanos. La verdad es que tanto los automovilistas y como quienes no manejan o usan coche pagan indirectamente por el estacionamiento pagando precios mas altos en todo lo demas.
Una de las tristes victimas de esta politica es la vivienda costeable. Consecuencia del requisito de minimos lugares de estacionamiento, es imposible edificar vivienda costeable en los centros urbanos sin subsidio gubernamental, debido al estacionamiento exigido para construir vivienda, aun cuando esta sea para poblacion de bajos ingresos que no conducen auto. Con los subsidios de gobierno y los recursos para renovacion urbana escaseando, el asunto se torna mas grave. Exigir para proyectos de vivienda en areas urbanas lugares de estacionamiento fuera de calle los vuelve incosteables.
Tambien esta el problema del estacionamiento en calle. Nunca parece haber suficiente estacionamiento y gastamos cantidades ridiculas de tiempo navegando las calles en busca de un lugar disponible, especialmente en los centros urbanos, lo cual es causa de congestionamientos y mucho estres tanto a conductores como a los no conductores.
Por supuesto los problemas de autos en las ciudades no son todos causados por mala planeacion. Aun cuando lideres muncipales desearan cambiar esas politicas, ( y muchos quieren) los cambios se enfrentan a temores y resistencias en las juntas de los comites de planeacion y del concejo de la ciudad. Las expectativas de los conductores de tener estacionamiento gratuito estan fuertemente conpenetradas en la mente. Los automovilistas esperamos que el estacionamiento sea gratuito como si fuera un derecho civil. resentimos el pagar por ello y resentimos gastar gasolina y tiempo en exceso navegando por encontrar el lugar. Como vecinos, tememos cualquier decremento por parte de los desarrolladores que incumpla los minimos espacos de estacionamiento. Frecuentemente detenemos proyectos que cumplen estos minimos solo por temor a que se cree desparramamiento y disminuyan los negocios. Al insistir a los desarrollaodres
Of course, problems of cars in cities are not all caused by poor planning. Even if municipal leaders wanted to change these policies – and many do – changes meet fear and resistance at planning commission and city council meetings. Driver’s expectations for free parking are now solidly locked in. We drivers expect parking 
to be free as if it were a civil right; we resent paying for it and we resent spending excess gas and time looking for it. As neighbors, we fear any decrease by developers in meeting off street parking minimums. We often hold up projects that actually meet these minimums for fear that they will create spillover and decrease parking spaces where we live. As small business owners, we often fear new projects will take up parking for our customer’s use and decrease business. By insisting developers provide the minimum and often beyond the minimum required “free” off street parking, drivers, neighbors and small business owners are unwittingly insisting on policies that undermine the economic vitality, affordability, safety and environmental quality of our urban centers. This leads to a vicious circle that incentivizes the use of more cars, which demands in turn more parking, doing further damage to the economic and cultural vitality of our cities.
The Solution:
Fortunately, Dr. Shoup also provides us with 3 simple remedies to these problems:
- Charge the right price for parking. This idea is the kingpin of solving all parking problems. It makes the driver pay the direct cost of parking his or her vehicle effectively ending the veil we have over the true cost of driving and parking our cars. It naturally incentivizes the use of public transit, bikes, walking and other less costly means of getting around. It increases availability of parking in commercial areas which has a positive impact on street level businesses. It provides the solution for the concern about parking spillover into our neighborhoods from new developments by charging people to park in our neighborhoods to a level which ensures the right amount of vacancies for residents. It allows the market to set the right amount of parking spaces by letting the marketplace determine the real demand for parking rather than inducing the demand by providing parking for free. Charging the right price for parking allows developers to meet the real market demand for parking in the most efficient and least costly means possible. Most importantly, it leads to a natural attrition of the single occupant automobile in our urban centers making them safer and more appealing, therefore restoring them to healthy places for people to live and work.
Use the income from on street parking increases to pay for local neighborhood improvements. Voters will support being charged for parking if it provides them quality of life benefits. This is done by the formation of Parking Benefit Districts where municipalities manage the income from parking meters in specific neighborhoods to ensure it is used to fix sidewalks, plant street trees, build or improve bike lanes, build or improve parks, etc.
- Eliminate all minimum off-street parking requirements. Fortunately the first two solutions pave the way for the third by effectively regulating on street parking availability in our commercial areas and neighborhoods. When we eliminate minimum off-street parking requirements, we allow for the market to set the number of spaces the developer puts in his or her projects. We then naturally incentivize the developer to come up with creative, cost efficient and affordable ways to provide transit and mobility to residents without the need for cars. In our dense urban centers and Transit Oriented Districts, we can then utilize more of our street level commercial space for retailers who provide wanted and needed goods and services, returning our downtowns to the people friendly places of bustling economic and cultural activity they were in the pre-automobile era.
In the latest paperback edition of The High Cost of Free Parking, Dr. Shoup updates the increasing number of places these ideas are taking root and the positive results these ideas are already having. In the Bay Area, San Francisco is leading the way by reducing and eliminating off street parking requirements. San 
Francisco has also implemented a market responsive pay-for-parking system called SF Park. In what is called “performance parking”, the new parking meters (called Smart Meters) can charge more or less depending on parking vacancies per block and the price can be set by remote control. The goal of the program is to charge the right price for parking, one which maintains a 15% vacancy rate at each block so there is always an open parking space close to your destination. If vacancies run below 15%, the price for parking in that block is increased. If vacancies are higher, the parking rate is reduced.
As a frequent visitor to San Francisco for business I find the results wonderful.Where smart meters are installed I can find a space on the same block as my destination and don’t need to plan for the extra 15 minutes to cruise to find a space. I am willing to pay the increased price to park this way and I am happy to know that this income is going to neighborhood improvements which directly enhance my experience of being there as a pedestrian; drivers pay the right price to park and everyone wins.
Unfortunately, many cities are not pursuing nor are they benefiting from these solutions. It is too often an uphill climb for developers and designers to try and bring forth projects with less than minimum required off street parking spaces even when we can create other means of mobility for our residents and tenants and demonstrate that these spaces are clearly not needed. To remedy this issue, designers, developers, property owners and all of us who live in, work in, and care about our cities, need to educate ourselves and our planners and city officials about these problems and solutions.
Here are some suggestions and resources for getting started:
Post this blog on your Facebook page and email to friends and the municipal leaders you know.- Go to www.sfpark.org to find more about what San Francisco is doing with regard to their performance parking initiative.
- Download and read the following article by Dr. Shoup from Access Magazine. It is an easy read and lays out the issues extremely well. Once you read it, post it on your Facebook page and otherwise get the word out to others:
http://www.uctc.net/access/38/access38_free_parking_markets.pdf
- Buy or borrow and read the paperback edition of The High Cost of Free Parking. After reading the book, share it with others, especially planners and city officials like the members of your city planning commission and city council.
- After you read the book you become eligible to join Dr. Shoup’s Facebook page called the Shoupistaswhere he posts fascinating articles about progress adoption of his ideas and other informative articles about related topics.
- Become politically active on these topics by participating in your local planning commission and city council meetings, especially when local parking issues are being addressed.
- Now that you are in a rare group of parking experts, continue to observe all things related to parking in your area and write about these issues in your local papers, blogs, etc.
- Have a good time. You will see just how much fun you can have with parking!
Notes and credits for photographs, top to bottom:
- Massive parking garage built to meet required parking for office building in Oakland, CA. You can see two historic brick structures on either side of this garage. Clearly this is a case where beautiful historic buildings were destroyed to make way for this behemoth. The brick faced structure in the foreground is abandoned as Oakland’s commercial office market in this area is weak. This building would be a perfect candidate for housing because it is 200 feet from Bart, the Bay Areas renowned transit system; but it cannot change use under current code without adding cost prohibitive parking. With the adoption of Dr. Shoup’s solutions a building like this could be restored to accommodate a mix of housing and street level retail and once again become the kind of project that makes for a beautiful and friendly street scape. Photo Credit: Todd Jersey, AIA
- Free Parking Sign. Photo by Brittney Bush. FlickCreative Commons
- Massive commuter parking garage near county offices in Oakland, CA. Other than being visual blight and a cultural wasteland, the area around this garage becomes a dangerous ghost town at night because it lost most of its housing and street level retail, and therefore lost the required “eyes on the street” needed to make it safe. Photo Credit: Todd Jersey, AIA
- Neighborhood Improvements showing new safe bike path in urban area. The kind of thing that can be financed by Parking Benefit Districts. Photo Credit: Sonofabike. Flickr Creative Commons
- Photo of sfpark’s Smart Meter. Photo Credit: Egor Lavrov (elavrov). Flickr Creative Commons
- Cover of Donald Shoup’s paperback edition of The High Cost of Free Parking
