Image credit: Charlottesville Tomorrow
Irony time: Virginia soon may get a test in market-based parking in… the People’s Republic of Charlottesville. The city would start charging for 800 on-street parking spaces downtown, now free, and install a system of smart traffic meters under a proposal advanced by Mark Brown, new owner of the Charlottesville Parking Center (CPC).
The city reverted to a system of free parking two years ago, creating a severe misallocation of parking spaces. Downtown employees grab the free on-street spots, making it exceedingly difficult for visitors and shoppers to find convenient parking spots. The idea is to encourage downtown workers either to park in long-term structured parking, which would free on-street spaces, or to ride bicycles or use mass transit.
“The promotion of free parking on the street is at odds with the promotion of walking, cycling and mass transit,” said Mark Brown, the owner of Yellow Cab and the Main Street Arena who became the sole shareholder of the CPC last summer, reports Sean Tubbs for Charlottesville Tomorrow.
The proposal, very conceptual in nature and subject to revision, is to install about 60 kiosks where parkers would enter their license plate information to pay. There would be two zones, a core zone with more restrictive parking lengths and higher rates, and a peripheral zone, where people could park longer and pay less. On-street parking rates would encourage long-term parkers to use structured parking. A smartphone app would provide real-time information on parking availability and rates. A portion of the parking revenue would be dedicated to transportation alternatives such as a free trolley, park-and-ride-options and cheap monthly bus passes. The remainder would go to a Business Improvement District.
Bacon’s bottom line: I’m sure some of Brown’s ideas will prove controversial. Downtown employees won’t want to give up their free, convenient parking. But there is no compelling public policy reason for subsidizing their hogging of downtown’s supply of on-street parking. Indeed, quite the contrary. Parking spaces have a cost; they are not “free” to the city. Parking is a scarce good that people are willing to pay for. Charging the right price for parking is a critical element of any downtown development strategy. Although the details may need to be modified, Brown has the right idea.
With all the tools available today, every large and midsized Virginia city should be asking the same questions as Charlottesville.
— JAB
I agree that downtown parking shouldn’t be free. But I also think its not fair to be charging for downtown parking while allowing shopping centers at the periphery have acres and acres of free parking. Ultimately there has to be a way for those businesses with large parking lots to have to pay and remove a disincentive for shoppers to go downtown.
Mike, There’s no such thing as “free” parking. The shopping centers on the periphery that provide parking and don’t charge for it had to pay for the land, and that land has value. In all likelihood, that land could be converted to a higher and better use. The phenomenon of “free” suburban parking results from zoning codes that mandate parking lot minimums and create no incentive for the sharing of parking spaces. Just because suburban parking policies are out of whack doesn’t mean downtown policies should be out of whack, too!