• 97% of cars are parked at any time

• in some cities, parking lots cover a full third of the land area downtown

• the value of that land we must pay for, indirectly. The cost of subsidized parking in the USA is about equal to the budget for National Defense.

• we want to reduce the congestion and pollution caused by cruising for spots

An optimistic few are looking for solutions.

Freakonomics Radio podcast:

The episode begins with Stephen Dubner talking to parking guru Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at UCLA and author of the landmark book The High Cost of Free Parking.

In a famous Times op-ed, Shoup argued that as much as one-third of urban congestion is caused by people cruising for curb parking. But, as Shoup tells Dubner, there ain’t no such thing as a free parking spot:

listen here – Parking Is Hell: A New Freakonomics Radio Podcast

SFpark in San Francisco is a pilot project to try to help solve some of the many, many problems.

Dynamic Pricing – Parking costs change during the day, depending on demand.