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Shoup on Parking Reforms Taking Hold Across the U.S.

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Media outlets covering new parking policies in cities across the United States spoke to UCLA Luskin’s Donald Shoup, whose decades of research in the field helped bring about the reforms. Smart Cities Dive profiled three cities — San Francisco; Boulder, Colorado; and Seaside, Florida — that have instituted systems that adjust parking rates according to demand. The policies embrace a new way of valuing urban real estate and provide a mechanism for investing revenues in neighborhood improvements. “If curb pricing were priced right, people would never be desperate for parking,” Shoup said. The distinguished research professor of urban planning also spoke to Grist about Austin, Texas, which just became the largest U.S. city to eliminate rules requiring a minimum number of parking spaces in new developments. Shoup said the move could pave the way for denser housing, increased public transit options and reduced carbon emissions.

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Shoup on Cities’ Attempts to Take Back Curb Space

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CNN spoke to UCLA’s Luskin’s Donald Shoup about why cities across the United States are cracking down on free curbside parking. Curb space is prime real estate for pedestrians crossing the street, residents looking for parking, workers dropping off food and deliveries, bicyclists, emergency vehicles, garbage trucks, sidewalk restaurants, electric vehicle charging stations and more. So a growing number of cities are removing free parking and charging for spots based on demand. Shoup, the dean of parking researchers in America, has been an advocate of such reforms for decades. “You pay for everything else related to cars. The one thing you don’t pay for — curb parking — is a mess,” he said.

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If You Want to Reform Parking, Don’t Mention the Word ‘Parking’

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The influence of UCLA Luskin’s Donald Shoup, the renowned advocate for parking reforms designed to make cities more livable, is taking hold across the country and around the world. In an extensive interview with the Hindustan Times, Shoup explained how India could build public support for eliminating free parking, the cause of gridlock and pollution, by using revenues to benefit the community. “If you want to reform parking, don’t mention the word ‘parking,’” Shoup advised. “Just ask people what public services are lacking in their neighborhood. Once you find out, tell them you don’t have money to pay for that. But one way that other cities have done it is to charge market prices for curb parking and spend that revenue to pay for services that people want. … It’s the neighborhood that decides.” Shoup added, “India is the country that will benefit most from parking reforms. One city does it right, and other cities will do it too.”

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Shoup on Pasadena’s Proposed Prorated Parking Plan

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UCLA Luskin’s Donald Shoup joined StreetsBlogLA’s SGVConnect podcast to discuss parking in Pasadena as the city nears approval of a new strategic parking plan. If approved, it calls for market-based prices on city and shopping district parking based on popularity, or demand. The plan also envisions longer parking durations. “It is an improvement,” said Shoup, author of the classic 2005 book, “The High Cost of Free Parking.” Shoup said of the report provided by consultants for the new plan: “They recommended just about everything I would recommend.”  He also noted Pasadena’s experience with implementing the latest technology. “I think that there are these two things that have helped in Pasadena … putting in the parking meters to manage the parking and two, spending the revenue with the right place,” he said.

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Shoup Weighs In on Parking Debates, From Napa to Virginia

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UCLA Luskin’s Donald Shoup weighed in on proposals to reform parking policies on both sides of the country. In downtown Napa, California, some business owners fear that a plan to eliminate free parking could disrupt a tourist boom, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Shoup countered, “There’s a lot of evidence that we can make things much better with meters,” particularly if revenues are used to fund improvements such as sidewalk paving and landscaping. In Fairfax County, Virginia, homeowners are fiercely resisting a proposal to overhaul requirements that developments include a minimum number of parking spots. Shoup told the Washington Post that continuing to prioritize the storage of cars “will be looked back on as a horrible mistake,” and spoke to CNN about the lasting damage to the economy caused by rigid parking mandates. Shoup’s decades-long scholarship has also been spotlighted in reviews of the book “Paved Paradise” by Henry Grabar in publications including the Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, Common Edge and the California Planning and Development Report.

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Shoup’s Solution to Parking Congestion in Manhattan

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Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, wrote a commentary for Bloomberg CityLab about how to reduce the overwhelming amount of congestion in Manhattan. A pay-to-park model that changes price depending on demand — which many motorists might find undesirable at first — would ensure that most of the curb space is well used while also leaving room for a few vacant spots, Shoup explained. “Revenue generated by the meters can be used to pay for public services, such as repairing sidewalks, planting street trees or providing other improvements,” he said. “Few will pay for curb parking, but all will benefit from public services.” The meter revenues could also be used to pay for transit passes for workers, allowing commuters who use buses to benefit as well. Shoup calculated that employing this model would allow the Upper West Side to raise $237 million every year.

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Shoup on the Business Sense of Paid Parking

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The San Francisco Chronicle spoke with Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, about a plan to extend hours of paid street parking from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. The proposal is projected to raise $18 million in annual revenue for San Francisco, but restaurant owners argue that curtailing free parking now would stall efforts to revive the city’s COVID-battered economy. Shoup said the proposal could actually boost business, opening up spaces for customers that might currently be taken by employee cars left in the spots for hours. Shoup’s groundbreaking research on parking has recently been in the public eye, with stories in the Washington Post and Business Insider about policy shifts around the country. In addition, reviews of the new book “Paved Paradise,” which puts a spotlight on Shoup’s work, have appeared in publications including the Wall Street Journal, New Yorker, New Republic and Bloomberg’s CityLab.

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Shoup Explains the Hidden High Cost of Free Parking

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Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning, appeared on the podcast The War on Cars to discuss issues that arise as a result of providing free parking. Author of the book “The High Cost of Free Parking,” Shoup explained that cars are parked 95% of the time so a major concern becomes finding places to put these cars. Prioritizing cars has detrimental effects on housing costs, congestion and climate change, he argues. One of the policy solutions Shoup proposes is having more parking meters on the street and using revenues to improve the neighborhood. “All the meter money has to go for services on the metered block so that people and businesses on that block see that if there are meters, they get clean sidewalks, they get healthy street trees,” he said. This type of change can garner political support because residents will see a direct benefit in their communities, he said. 

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On the Clear, Practical and Revolutionary Work of Don Shoup

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Donald Shoup’s travels down paths that other academics overlooked have profoundly changed the way we understand cities, and inspired a viable movement to improve them. That’s the message of an essay published in the Journal of Planning Education and Research that offers a personal glimpse into the life and scholarship of Shoup, the distinguished professor whose research has shed light on the consequences of misguided parking policies. The essay is written by Michael Manville, his colleague on the UCLA Luskin Urban Planning faculty, who describes Shoup as the unique academic who offers practical, specific solutions to policy puzzles. His work has led to a “monumental act of reform” in California, a new law abolishing parking requirements within half a mile of transit. “What truly sets Don apart is his relentless pursuit of clarity,” Manville writes. “Don has shown that when we give people knowledge, they will use it, and the world will, in small steps, get better.” 

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Shoup Weighs In on NYC Parking Angst

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Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning, spoke to the New York Times about the recent decision to return to twice-a-week street sweeping in New York City. During the pandemic, street sweeping was reduced to once per week as city services were scaled back. Many New Yorkers welcomed the change, which required them to move their cars just once a week, but others complained that the cleanliness of streets across the city declined. Mayor Eric Adams recently announced that twice-weekly street sweeping would resume, and drivers will once again have to move their cars two times a week to avoid a fine. According to Shoup, car owners in the city are still getting a good deal. “Drivers are complaining that they have to move their car, and they’re parking for free on some of the most valuable land on Earth,” Shoup said.

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