One solution to fight climate change? Fewer parking spaces - Grist
One solution to fight climate change? Fewer parking spaces - Grist
Climate change is forcing cities to curb parking to bring down emissions and create more affordable housing.
Getting rid of parking spaces just creates frustration among commuters unless you provide real practical alternatives to driving — dedicated bike lanes; proper public transport that has enough seats, runs frequently and on time, and arrives close to where people are going; and/or formal car pooling.
Bicycles aren’t practical for everyone. Public transport that requires passengers to stand for 20 minutes or more while crammed in like sardines; or public transport that runs every half-hour or more, isn’t useful — it actually discourages use of public transport. The only car pooling that I’ve seen work is when it’s organised within large companies so that people are going to the same destination and have something in common to talk about on the ride.
Waving a magic wand and canceling car parks is most definitely not useful unless proper alternatives are available.
Edit: Also, the plural of “minimum” is “minima“.
50Yeah, but at minimum, it may be good to get rid of mandatory parking minimums and the prioritization of good parking next to mass transit.
It doesn't have to be a lot of pain, but a little can help.
16Yup, this can easily be a 10 year + project.
2
I despise car-reliant infrastructure as much as anyone but yeah, this has to be approached from all sides you can't just punish people who use cars due to there being no alternative, and then STILL give them no alternative.
That said, the article implies that this is in fact part of a larger plan and just removes one blocker, so I guess we'll see if that ends up being true or not.
15Yeah, don't buy into the strawman. At no point did anyone say "let's not do anything else". Removing the parking minimum tax enables the rest of it.
4
Bicycles aren’t practical for everyone.
Maybe not everyone but certainly the vast majority of humanity could do for a bike ride. If amputees and paralytics can compete with wheelchairs and specialized bicycles, there's really not many excuses.
10Depends quite a lot o the climate and time. If your in a place where ice and heat stroke aren’t common, and have a shower at work, and don’t have to travel at night, and don’t have to deal with sharing the road with fifty mile an hour traffic, and can afford to spend the extra hour or so a day, and can find a place to stash your bike where it won’t be stolen immediately, etc…
Bicycles require a lot of infrastructure and time, as well as an amenable climate. As much as i would like for the vast majority of humanity to be able commute every day by bike, the infrastructure simply isn’t there even in the places where you don’t have harsh winters. The goal of all transit, be it bike metro bus or car, is to get people from point A to B in the most effective way practical.
Build the infrastructure, and they will come. If they don’t, then figure out what you did wrong with the infrastructure.
3Oh the Urbanity had a great video on how a large portion of non-commuting trips can be made by bicycle.
3Not when the weather is shit. You're not gonna get humanity to get up for a bike ride and have to take a shower on arrival just to go get groceries, for example.
There are a lot of different things that impact this, not just weather. The point isn't about not picking one thing but to recognize it's not feasible for everyone, full stop.
1
Getting rid of parking spaces just creates frustration among commuters unless you provide real practical alternatives to driving
Good. Let them be frustrated, because that's how you get public support for real practical alternatives to driving!
Quit bending over backwards to accommodate cars FIRST and the good urbanism will follow.
3Adjusting parking minimums and reducing parking over time is absolutely the way to promote alternatives. It promotes higher better access to services (as land can be used for alternatives) and cheaper housing (meaning you can live closer to where you work).
The reality is we are vastly overparked. Depending on where you live, there can be 8 TIMES the number of parking spaces than cars. You can pretty easily reduce parking by 1/3 and have near zero impact for drivers 99% of the time (maybe on black Friday you may need to take a ride).
Also, just want to point out to the conservatives and libertarians in the crowd: Parking Minimums are a TAX. Worse, they are a tax that overly affects small business that is less likely to be able to get the support they need endure the taxes effect on their finances.
2nothing can be done, so let's just stick our heads in the sand and wail.
oh wait, no, human behavior and values change over time. so we can use that to our advantage by not enabling selfish fucks who refuse to change with the times. No one's expecting metro service to rural households, but also, it's insane to expect your right to your own single person transport while the world is on freaking fire.
so you do you bud, but understand the rest of society is going to change and you can fight it, but it won't make you right.
2
Because there's already so much parking available, right?
When I'm driving my mobility impaired grandma to her eye surgery, I want a parking space. Driving in major cities is already enough frustration, no need to add more.
-10Because there’s already so much parking available, right?
Yes, there literally is. Very often, parking minimums are set to accommodate peak parking demand and parking lots sit >50% empty 99% of the time.
17If there were sufficient public transport that was accessible, then you wouldn't need to
12Also the cities that have the most investment in things like multimodal public transit are also the best cities to drive in. If you just genuinely want or need the car those cities are better then the cities designed for the car. Designing for the car creates the worst outcomes for the car.
Parking requirements were established in an entirely unscientific way. And they've never really been updated.
A city with a lot less parking would be one that was easier for Grandma to get around in even if she was getting around in it in a car. People with significant disabilities are pretty much the only ones who should expect parking when they go to places.
16
What if health insurance paid for necessary taxi rides? Not every mobility impaired grandma is lucky enough to have family members to be their personal chauffeurs.
4I caregive as well. What we truly need are five-minute cities and things like tricycle taxies that I can safely take anywhere.
4@pathief @ProdigalFrog it's just physically not possible to build enough parking for everyone to always have a park. You have trouble finding a park because that's just the physical reality. Adding more parking (like adding more lanes) doesn't increase availability because of induced demand and the inherent inefficiency of cars.
Reducing parking won't reduce the parking available to you. Just as reducing the number of car lanes won't reduce your ability to drive places.
1Throw gran in the basket of your huffy.
-2