Urban planners typically set the minimum parking requirements forevery land use to satisfy the peak demand for free parking. As aresult, parking is free for 99 of automobile trips in the UnitedStates. Minimum parking requirements increase the supply and reducethe price but not the cost of parking. They bundle the cost ofparking spaces into the cost of development, and thereby increase theprices of all the goods and services sold at the sites that offerfree parking. Cars have many external costs, but the external cost ofparking in cities may be greater than all the other external costscombined. To prevent spillover, cities could price on-street parkingrather than require off-street parking. Compared with mini- mumparking requirements, market prices can allocate parking spacesfairly and efficiently.
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