ITDP's New On-Street Parking Pricing Guidebook

This report explores strategies for efficient and equitable parking management with an emphasis on pricing. These strategies enable cities to reallocate space for bus lanes, bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks, and pickup zones, and generate revenue.

2 minute read

September 22, 2021, 11:00 AM PDT

By Todd Litman


On-Street Parking

David Gilder / Shutterstock

Rapid motorization has been a global trend in recent decades and has presented troubling consequences, such as air and noise pollution, traffic-related injuries and deaths, and inequity. As vehicle use increases, so does demand for storing vehicles, both for short-term stays on the street near drivers’ destinations and longer-term stays in off-street lots and garages. Managing and pricing parking is therefore critical to ensure equitable use of public space among high-volume, low-polluting transport modes like public transport, cycling, and walking.

This report explores strategies for efficient and equitable parking management with an emphasis on pricing. Employing these strategies will enable cities to reallocate space for bus lanes, bicycle lanes, wider sidewalks, and flexible pickup zones, and the revenue from pricing parking can help fund these improvements. High-quality public transport, cycling, and walking infrastructure benefits users of these modes as well as drivers by reducing congestion as demand shifts away from driving.

Cities that take action to address long-standing parking management issues may now be able to shift some of the increased demand for vehicles expected in the aftermath of the pandemic to other modes.

High-quality public transport, cycling, and walking infrastructure benefits users of these modes as well as drivers by reducing congestion as demand shifts away from driving.

More efficient parking management and pricing enables cities to prioritize valuable urban space for people and local businesses instead of cars, resulting in more efficient, equitable, healthy communities.

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