My subtitle involves no sarcasm: Dr. Shoup was the absolutely dominant theorist in the field of urban planning, as it relates in particular to the building, allocating, and pricing of parking spaces (of which there may be 1 or 2 billion in the USA1, for our fleet of almost 300 million cars). And his masterpiece was in fact called The High Cost of Free Parking (2005). This to my knowledge was the first research to show conclusively that, while we focus on road capacity and pricing to control the stock and flow of cars, it is the capacity and pricing of parking spaces that really are just as key2. Very broadly speaking, travel demand is shaped as much by whether you can park when you get to your destination, as whether the road will take you there, and how quickly.
As a result of his excellent research and tireless advocacy, cities across America changed many of their parking regulations. Belatedly, but sensibly. For example, if in 1965 a restaurant could serve 200 people in 1-hour meals over the course of a 4-hour evening, then it made sense for the local authorities to require the owner to provide 50 or so parking spaces. But by 2020, 80% of those diners might have gone through the drive-through lane, so that many fewer parking spaces were needed. But the regulations on the books still demanded 50. We’ve all seen the results: a Burger King somewhere with a huge lot in which only 5 cars are parked. Tying up land that could be better used for other purposes.
He was an urban planner who could bridge the left and right sides of the political spectrum, as he sought market-based solutions (right) to social problems like traffic congestion (left). And always with a firm basis in facts, not opinions. In part because he defied easy political characterization, his work gained broad appeal and broad impact.
You improved life for all of us, Dr. Shoup. RIP.
Oh, you wanted a Car Chart? Here’s one on parking from Todd Litman, check his website for the underlying research:
They’re hard to count, so no one really knows. Cue the Nate Bargatze SNL skit!
A distillation of his work would start with his argument that parking that appears free to users actually has significant costs that are passed on to society through higher rents, lower wages, increased housing costs, and subsidies built into development requirements. He demonstrated how "free" parking distorts transportation choices and urban development patterns.
Shoup was highly critical of municipal minimum parking requirements, which mandate that developers provide a certain number of parking spaces for different land uses. He argued these requirements are arbitrary, increase development costs unnecessarily, encourage automobile dependency, waste valuable urban land, make housing more expensive, and much more.
He advocated for market-based parking pricing: if a person wanted a space (beyond their own driveway or, in rural areas, by the side of empty roads) he should pay for it. And the price should vary depending on demand, to keep supply available. He believed that cities should set prices to achieve about 85% occupancy. This would reduce cruising for parking (which causes congestion and pollution), ensure spaces are available when needed, generate revenue for local improvements, and generally make more efficient use of parking resources.