210 | PARKING
Space man Donald Shoup is the world’s best-known parking theorist. Here, ahead of the publication of his new book, he talks exclusively to Intertraffic World about how his ideas, once thought radical, are beginning to be accepted around the world, and are making parking provision fairer, more predictable… and more profitable Words | James Allen As urban population densities continue to rise globally, the issues around parking provision are also increasing. However, it is fair to say that those involved in solving such challenges remain unknown to the vast majority of people, barring traffic managers and city planners.
Breaking into the mainstream Regularly featured in national newspaper features and even depicted in cartoon form for a popular US television series, Donald Shoup is, arguably, an exception to that norm. While it would be hyperbolic to say the Distinguished Research Professor of urban planning at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a ‘household name’, he – or at least his proposal – has certainly seemed to strike a chord with a wider section of society than is typically associated with an urban planner. The theories on parking laid out in Shoup’s seminal 2005 book, The High Cost of Free Parking, have gone on to shape many of the world’s major cities – including Intertraffic World hosts Mexico City and Amsterdam. To briefly summarize the 800-page tome, there are three main tenets to better urban parking provision. First of all, drivers should be charged the right price for on-street parking – the lowest price that will always leave several free spaces on every block. This means dynamic pricing, so as spaces fill up the price of parking gets higher until
it becomes so expensive the last space is unlikely to get filled unless in an extreme emergency. The second is spending the generated revenue on improving the area affected in a way that appeals to local residents and businesses. The final, and possibly most controversial, proposal is removing all off-street parking requirements for property developers. This last point was the drum that Shoup banged the loudest, unequivocal in his belief that such requirements were detrimental to all of a city’s stakeholders.
Positioned in the line of fire “When the book came out, half the planet thought I was crazy and the other half thought I was daydreaming,” says Shoup. “But as people looked more closely at the issues, they realized these ideas were sensible and are now adopting them – it was slow at first, but it’s now starting to happen.” Much of the book’s content he had already outlined in various articles over the
When the book came out, half the planet thought I was crazy and the other half thought I was daydreaming Donald Shoup, Distinguished Research Professor, Department of Urban Planning at UCLA
Intertraffic World | Annual Showcase 2018
