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Cheaper, easier parking -> more demand for driving -> more traffic -> hard to find parking again. Plus the additional traffic. A better solution would be to e

by talos 13y ago

Cheaper, easier parking -> more demand for driving -> more traffic -> hard to find parking again. Plus the additional traffic. A better solution would be to encourage the use of non-automobile transport through increased public transit investment (more service). That would free up plenty of parking for those who still choose to (or must) drive. Or to encourage ride or car-sharing, thus maximizing the effectiveness of existing parking (more people served per parked car). Also, raising the price of parking on-street would make more parking available, both by discouraging some existing parking and making off-street lots more profitable for operators.

spikels 13y ago
Alternative theory: Easier parking -> less driving around looking of parking spots -> less traffic. I rarely drive in SF but when I do I often find that when I go to find a parking space there a many other people also driving around looking for parking spaces. I wonder what percentage of driving in SF is spent looking for parking.
- anigbrowl 13y ago
  Yeah but hat assumes that the vehicle population won't expand to take advantage of the new capacity. Like many people, when I lived in SF* I didn't want a car because it was more hassle than benefit, notwithstanding the invisible tax of lost time from slow/inefficient public transit. I agree that it's very very slow; getting from SF to Stanford University, for example, is a 3 hours journey each way. * I live in North Oakland now, and I can get to downtown SF in about 30 minutes, including the walk to the BART station and having to wait a few minutes for the train. At worst (just missed a train, at the weekend, 20 minute wait for the next one) it takes 45 minutes, wheres getting downtown from 30th Avenue and Taraval in SF took a minumum of 54 minutes and typically more than an hour.
- pjlegato 13y ago
  SFMTA estimates that 30% of SF traffic is people circling while looking for a parking spot. http://sfpark.org/2011/04/04/sfmta-announces-improved-sfpark-pricing-strategy-for-city-owned-garages/ http://sfpark.org/2011/04/04/sfmta-announces-improved-sfpark...

by talos 13y ago

spikels 13y ago

Alternative theory: Easier parking -> less driving around looking of parking spots -> less traffic. I rarely drive in SF but when I do I often find that when I go to find a parking space there a many other people also driving around looking for parking spaces. I wonder what percentage of driving in SF is spent looking for parking.

anigbrowl 13y ago
Yeah but hat assumes that the vehicle population won't expand to take advantage of the new capacity. Like many people, when I lived in SF* I didn't want a car because it was more hassle than benefit, notwithstanding the invisible tax of lost time from slow/inefficient public transit. I agree that it's very very slow; getting from SF to Stanford University, for example, is a 3 hours journey each way. * I live in North Oakland now, and I can get to downtown SF in about 30 minutes, including the walk to the BART station and having to wait a few minutes for the train. At worst (just missed a train, at the weekend, 20 minute wait for the next one) it takes 45 minutes, wheres getting downtown from 30th Avenue and Taraval in SF took a minumum of 54 minutes and typically more than an hour.
pjlegato 13y ago
SFMTA estimates that 30% of SF traffic is people circling while looking for a parking spot. http://sfpark.org/2011/04/04/sfmta-announces-improved-sfpark-pricing-strategy-for-city-owned-garages/ http://sfpark.org/2011/04/04/sfmta-announces-improved-sfpark...