The High Cost of Free Parking

Posted by Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance on March 7, 2016

DVSGA Spring Forum: Professor Donald Shoup
The High Cost of Free Parking

Do you know how much of housing costs is due to minimum parking requirements? How much has our society spent on unnecessary parking? What can we learn by applying economic thinking to parking policy?

The Delaware Valley Smart Growth Alliance invites you to find out. Meet Donald Shoup, recipient of the American Planning Association’s 2015 National Planning Excellence Award, who will address land use, parking, smart growth and strong communities. Following his presentation will be a discussion from our expert panelists, Anne Fadulon, Tim Haas, and Rob Zuritsky.

When:
Thursday, May 5, 2016
8:30 am – 11:00 am

Where:
PECO Energy Hall
2301 Market Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103

**This event has been approved for 2 AICP CM Credits**

Register: http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07ec8y3ciz8a08ea14&llr=lfsiqshab

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: DONALD SHOUP

Professor Shoup is a dynamic speaker that has changed the way communities around the country think about land use as it relates to parking policies. This event provides an opportunity for smart growth advocates and sceptics to hear from this nationally renowned expert on parking, land use, and economics. Parking is often one of the largest land uses in American cities and suburbs and has a huge effect on the viability smart growth projects.

Donald Shoup has been an influential voice in changing the discussion around free parking by highlighting the hidden costs of providing it and proposing innovative solutions to ensuring adequate parking with minimal land area. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Urban Planning at UCLA, and an Honorary Professor at the Beijing Transportation Research Institute as well as being the recipient of the American Planning Association’s 2015 National Planning Excellence Award. Policies proposed in his book The High Cost of Free Parkinghave been successfully implemented in cities and towns nationwide.

For more information about the speaker and his work:

Strong Towns – Blog and Podcast focused on building financially resilient communities
http://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2015/11/24/donald-shoup-parking-spot

Freakonomics Radio – Podcast with an economics focus
http://freakonomics.com/podcast/parking-is-hell-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/

99% invisible – Podcast with a design focus
http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/episode-08-99-free-parking/

Streetsblog – Text blog about street design
http://usa.streetsblog.org/2015/03/30/donald-shoup-an-appreciation/

Street Films – Short films about smart transportation
http://www.streetfilms.org/dr-shoup-parking-guru/