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Study: To cut emissions, cut parking spots

A new study of several major European cities says that one key to cutting car emissions is eliminating parking options for drivers. Simple.

By Good MagazineThu, Jan 27 2011 at 5:52 PM EST
 7

No parking Photo: bee-side(s)/Flickr

According to findings in a new paper (PDF) from the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Europe's Parking U-Turn, several major European cities have had tremendous success regulating car emissions simply by eliminating the places in which cars can be parked. 
 
Hamburg, Zurich, Paris, and London have all cut parking spots, lessening auto emissions as well as spurring residents to seek out alternative transportation methods, like walking or biking.  
 
Hamburg and Zurich used a cap-and-trade approach to decrease parking, wherein every off-street parking spot built was balanced by an on-street spot being converted to a park or community space. Paris, on the other hand, took a more direct approach: The French capital spent about $20 million on bollards to block cars from using existing parking spots. 
 
GOOD has in the past covered legislation confronting the artificially low pricing of parking — including San Francisco's supply-and-demand meters — but this is the first time we've heard of cities outright destroying parking spots. Several cities in the study also did away with minimum parking standards for new residential and commercial developments (an idea attached to a California parking bill last year that was eventually amended beyond recognition).
 
Regardless of methodology, the results were impressive:
 
Take Amsterdam, a city that saw a 20 percent reduction in car traffic in the inner city, as well as a 20 percent decrease in traffic searching for a place to park, since strict parking enforcements were implemented. In Copenhagen, Denmark, traffic dropped by 6 percent in five years, despite a 13 percent increase in car ownership over the same period.
 
The logic is simple: Less room for cars equals fewer cars equals cleaner air. The end. 
 
A version of this story originally appeared on GOOD. Read it here.
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Related Topics: Cars, Public Transportation

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anonymous
Matthias 02/12/2011 13:32 PM

This makes perfect sense, provided that there are attractive alternatives to driving. If cities redirect the money from parking (and parking is very expensive) to high-quality transit (which is what Europe has), transit, walking and cycling become the preferred modes of transport.

anonymous
Chelsea 02/10/2011 19:42 PM

This makes intuitive sense from an economic perspective--people will use the method of transportation which is easiest/most cost effective. If driving is made more difficult/costly, then people will switch transit methods or make fewer tips. It's a common sense policy that US cities would do well to implement.

anonymous
Wendy 02/10/2011 12:10 PM

I understand they are trying to make the areas friendly to pedestrians and cut pollution but If I can't find a parking spot I would not shop in that area. I don't have time to be leisurely and stroll around the shops and eateries. I am in and out as soon as I finish my business in the area. If no parking is offered, I would find alternatives elsewhere which I guess would cut down on emissions but also hurt the businesses.

anonymous
Miss Pat 02/10/2011 11:07 AM

Walk, ride a bike? You've got to be kidding. Did you ever notice that the largest people park the closest to the buildings? Every town, city, whatever, could benefit from large parking lots outside the downtown area with low/no emmision shuttle buses. When they changed the fuel for the shuttles around the IN State Fair to ethanol, the air was remarkably improved. But, as I said, this is way too simple.

anonymous
Robin Dunbar 02/10/2011 11:06 AM

Hi....love the idea, but wondering if the city felt an economic decrease due to reducing parking spots?

anonymous
gmn17 02/02/2011 11:44 AM

worst article of 2011,

anonymous
EV Advocate 01/28/2011 15:27 PM

Don't think this would work in the U.S. Drivers would keep driving until they find a space somewhere.

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