Two proposals in this year's budget recommendations from Mayor Mike McGinn have generated the most controversy—reducing hours at neighborhood community centers and higher fees for on-street parking. With the city's annual budget approaching $4 billion these two items represent a tiny fraction of total spending, but they prove Tip O'Neill's famous quip, "All politics is local."
Municipal government is closest to the people. It's the form of government people see every day and use the most. So when local government proposes a change, reaction can be quick and sometimes fierce.
The outcry over increased parking rates has indeed been quick and fierce. My office has heard it loud and clear—you're just grabbing for more money, you'll hurt local businesses, you'll drive shoppers to Bellevue or the malls, don't you realize we're hurting out here.
But, what if the higher on-street parking rates are actually a benefit, a change that will help retail businesses, improve the flow of traffic, lower carbon emissions and help pay for pedestrian improvements, better lighting and more frequent cleaning?
Unfortunately, most of the talk about Mayor McGinn's proposed rate change has focused on the rates and not the strategic thinking and desired outcomes behind the proposal. If we can get past initial reactions, dig into the facts, and understand the potential benefits of market-driven parking costs, I think we will come to appreciate the wisdom of switching our on-street parking policies away from a rate-based focus to a demand or market-driven orientation.
Last Friday night, Joleen and I went to a movie (The Social Network: see it) in Belltown. After dropping Joleen off near the front door of The Big Picture, I went in search of a parking space. I circled three blocks searching for a free "after 6 p.m." space, failed, and then pulled into an off-street private parking lot which cost me $12 for the evening. As I walked back to the theater I thought to myself, "Why did I think I deserved a free parking space?" This experience happens to people everyday all around Seattle. We search for the free or least expensive parking space on the street, then give up in frustration and pay for the almost always available and much more expensive off-street slot.
But what would happen if free market demand and not a City Hall transportation official determined the cost of parking?
UCLA urban planning Professor Donald Shoup is credited with being the "prophet of parking." In his 2005 book, The High Cost of Free Parking, Shoup advances a free market solution to on-street parking woes—let demand set rates and use meter revenue to pay for services and enhanced transportation benefits. A recent Los Angeles Times article says cities like San Francisco, Redwood City, Portland and Washington, DC “are starting to listen” to Shoup’s theories and a New York Times piece by economist Tyler Cowen examines them. (I blogged previously about Shoup here.)
Shoup persuasively reasons that free parking in congested areas is economically wasteful and imposes huge costs on governments, businesses and, ultimately, on consumers. He also argues that charging for parking in areas or at times with very low demand is similarly wasteful.
To our current debate about on-street parking meter rates, Shoup suggests that prices set too low make it more difficult to find an available space and lead to driver frustration and congestion. In some cities, Shoup argues, congestion can be reduced by 20% to 30% when demand-based rates eliminate space-hunt cruising.
I favor on-street parking policies that are designed to (1) keep one or two spaces open and available on each block face, (2) reduce space-hunt cruising and (3) return some meter revenues to the neighborhoods for improved streetscape benefits. These policy outcomes will help retail businesses by making more on-street parking available, reduce carbon emissions, and provide for cleaner and safer streets and sidewalks.
My colleagues and I should be focused on desired policy outcomes, not on the extra revenue we might bring in by jacking up meter rates. The public, especially small business owners who want readily available on-street parking, are more likely to support our actions if we highlight the benefits of demand-driven meter rates designed to keep one or two space per block face open at all times.
