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Why "should" SF be auctioning off these spots? To maximize revenue? Is that why public services exist? Are they doing a larger disservice to the people of SF

Why "should" SF be auctioning off these spots? To maximize revenue? Is that why public services exist? Are they doing a larger disservice to the people of SF by NOT auctioning them off, thus raising the price to park, over having a lower price solution to $25 parking garages? Maybe SF should build a couple of public parking garages themselves if they, as a public service, wish to continue to offer more affordable public parking. The residents of the city need affordable parking. Unless, their goal is to get less people to drive in the city and take public transit. There are so many factors at play here. So many agendas and concerns. So I repeat my question... for what reasons "should" SF auction off the spots? What are its ramifications? I have no skin in the game, I'm just an east coaster. These issues are hardly ever so cut and dry as to whether a market exists or not.

derwiki 12y ago
When I had my car in the city, I took public transit every chance I could because I didn't dare lose my parking spot. I only used the car for out of town trips. Then I realized how ridiculous it was to own a car that I was stressed out to use. I switched to Zipcar and never looked back (in fact, my local Zipcar garage is closer than how far away I normally had to park).
- bkmartin 12y ago
  You mention the Zipcar garage. Why doesn't the city build a couple of these garages? Why don't they offer an affordable solution in that respect? What if they got rid of on street parking all together and created more parking garages so that they took up less acres and they could then reuse that street space for more driving lanes or bike lanes or bus lanes etc? They could then have more parking spots in a given geographical area and better public land use overall. I think that affordable and plentiful parking is vital to most downtown areas. Private industry will only put in so much parking themselves to maximize revenue over and above the purpose of the service itself.
rayiner 12y ago
Parking is an inefficient use of land in a dense city. Cheap parking just subsidizes this inefficiency.
danielweber 12y ago
I made a longer comment here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937577 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937577 TLDR: if it's a limited resource ("more demand than supply", colloquially), allocate it by money. If you want to help the poor, give them money instead of breaking the market for the resource.
- dragonwriter 12y ago
  > TLDR: if it's a limited resource ("more demand than supply", colloquially), allocate it by money. If you want to help the poor, give them money instead of breaking the market for the resource. If it is a public resource with a single public issuer, you don't have the requisites for a functioning market anyhow, so not auctioning it doesn't "break the market".
  - danielweber 12y ago
    If I want to pay the market clearing price to get a parking spot but cannot, the market has broken. This is otherwise a functioning market. There is demand that can react to prices, and the city can adjust supply based on price data.

derwiki 12y ago

When I had my car in the city, I took public transit every chance I could because I didn't dare lose my parking spot. I only used the car for out of town trips. Then I realized how ridiculous it was to own a car that I was stressed out to use. I switched to Zipcar and never looked back (in fact, my local Zipcar garage is closer than how far away I normally had to park).

bkmartin 12y ago
You mention the Zipcar garage. Why doesn't the city build a couple of these garages? Why don't they offer an affordable solution in that respect? What if they got rid of on street parking all together and created more parking garages so that they took up less acres and they could then reuse that street space for more driving lanes or bike lanes or bus lanes etc? They could then have more parking spots in a given geographical area and better public land use overall. I think that affordable and plentiful parking is vital to most downtown areas. Private industry will only put in so much parking themselves to maximize revenue over and above the purpose of the service itself.

rayiner 12y ago

Parking is an inefficient use of land in a dense city. Cheap parking just subsidizes this inefficiency.

danielweber 12y ago

I made a longer comment here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937577 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7937577 TLDR: if it's a limited resource ("more demand than supply", colloquially), allocate it by money. If you want to help the poor, give them money instead of breaking the market for the resource.

dragonwriter 12y ago
> TLDR: if it's a limited resource ("more demand than supply", colloquially), allocate it by money. If you want to help the poor, give them money instead of breaking the market for the resource. If it is a public resource with a single public issuer, you don't have the requisites for a functioning market anyhow, so not auctioning it doesn't "break the market".
- danielweber 12y ago
  If I want to pay the market clearing price to get a parking spot but cannot, the market has broken. This is otherwise a functioning market. There is demand that can react to prices, and the city can adjust supply based on price data.