Articles on Parking Policy

Since the sixties the car has been the dominant mode of transport for passengers in most (if not all) OECD countries. However, despite being built to move people, a car spends on average more than 95% of its existence parked (Shoup, 2005; Bates, 2014). This should be enough to seriously consider parking and parking policy as topics of both academic and societal interest. But there are four other arguments that make parking an interesting object for scientific research. First, parking plays an important role in the decision on whether to possess and/or use a car. Second, parking takes (a lot of) space and space is particularly scarce in urban areas. Third, parking is a very costly infrastructure to provide. Fourth, parking related income can be a major source of own income for many local authorities.