I used to believe that groups of people knew what was in their own best interest, then I started studying how merchants reacted to car policy. Shop owners in cities are always wrong about how many people arrive at their business by car. Always wrong about the impact of losing parking spaces, and always pleasantly (if begrudgingly) surprised at how well they do when streets are pedestrianized.

I was thinking about what impact street parking has for the average speed. Also provides a barrier for pedestrians. But a wall of trees would be even more preferable than a wall of parked cars

As a City parking manager its very refreshing to see a video explaining some the issues we have to think about. I think I will share this video with colleagues, councillors and the public - its a succinct overview of the issues around pricing and rationing on-street (and off-street parking). Well done.

I think it is also important to keep in mind that limiting parking is not of much use if you have no alternative to driving. This is a lesson that many small and medium towns in Germany learned the hard way. After removing free parking from the town center, people from the surrounding villages simply did not come any more and went to shopping centers at the edge of town. Where I come from, they solved the problem by offering the first hour for free in a nearby parking garage

Here in San Diego, tons of dedicated bike lanes are being put in everywhere. In many cases, the street parking is not eliminated, but instead, what used to be street parking becomes a bike lane with a strip of planters, and then one of two driving Lanes becomes the parking Lane. That way, there's enough room for parking, bikes, but let's room for driving. It doesn't seem to make traffic any worse though, in the streets have a much more walkable scale by being narrow and having more plantings. Overall, I think it's good to preserve street parking but play around with different configurations of passenger loading, 30 minutes, surge demand pricing, and other models that allow for flexibility as habits and needs change. People always think they can predict or plan the future, which is what doomed streetcar systems all over the country in favor of cars. Now, the city's wish they had kept the streetcars. So before radically eliminating parking altogether, these flexible models are a good way to feel out what works and what doesn't.

I think what's particularly interesting about the intersection you chose is that there are literally 2 parking structures right there. Ironically this didn't seem to come up in your analysis in removing the on-street parking, it probably should have. Like that intersection is a great candidate to replace the on-street parking with bike lanes, because of those two structures which might be under utilized due to the on-street parking.

Don’t forget the health impact of breathing the exhaust of vehicles idling in parking spaces right next to the outdoor cafe seating.

Set up a (local) monitoring format to make it publishable. Numbers, numbers, numbers. If anyone has the time..... (In the Netherlands (Utrecht) shopkeepers asked to have parking spaces removed because they noticed their businesses lagged compared to shops without street parking.)

Your Toronto example clearly demonstrates that most shops in this neighbourhood get the vast majority of their shoppers from that neighbourhood. Bloor St (and it’s easterly extension known as The Danforth) links dozens of residential neighbourhoods and the majority of those residents walk, take the TTC (major subway line runs along this corridor) and bike. So the character of the neighbourhoods major streets run through is a major consideration in your decision scenario.

I’m fine with people getting free or low-cost parking. I don’t drive and use public transit. But I could lose count at how many times I’ve seen people leave work in the middle of the day because they have to move their car or else they’ll get a ticket. Or they can’t park near the destination because they’ll get a ticket. These tickets are expensive and can cut a whole week of pay in some cases. Just like free public transit, free public parks, public libraries, and public museums, free public parking is one less thing we can all share together and we don’t have to fight one another over.

I think the approach needs to situational. On-street parking can be a good option in less densely inhabited suburban and rural areas. In cities, though, you really need to find ways to limit it. For urban residential neighbourhoods and any commercial districts where underground parking isn’t an option, you can use parking metres or time limited blue zones (with long-term parking rights for local residents), while at the same time making as much of the city centre as you can entirely car free. And of course, build up transit and bike infrastructure so cars aren’t needed in the first place!

Just today I saw an area of Houston, Rice Village, where parking lots and curbside parking was being converted to outdoor seating and picnic/yard game areas. Love seeing it in person and learning about it on here

Dave, since you used to live in Wisconsin. This might be of interest to you. Milwaukee has a group proposing to remove 32 acres worth of freeway from the downtown lakefront area to create a more walkable, livable neighborhood. If you want to know more the group that started this effort is called "Rethink 794". I'm excited to see what my city could be in the next 10 years

Cars are terrible and on-street parking prices should reflect the massive externalities that drivers inflict on everyone.

On Street parking... Sure is an interesting topic. As someone in britain it's on litterally every single residential street often turning the 2 lane street into 1 lane with passing areas due to all the parked cars.

Great video, would have also been good to address that there appears to be multiple parking garages in the vicinity of where you filmed the study. Why does street parking also need to supplement this?

I used to manage a store in Culver City which taught me the importance of parking to my bottom line. We started in a building no parking, then moved to a building with a shared parking lot, then finally to building with our own lot. With each move sales doubled. However once we had our own lot, we had to hire guards to keep people from using it as free parking for the entire neighborhood. There just is no optimum solution to parking as long as we're a car based society.

Parking and bike lanes should both be put in place. Making the street narrow forces traffic move at a lower speed, and therefore smoother and safer.

Black Friday parking lots, and now Black Friday on street parking. I am noticing a trend here.

I imagine as a car driver, on street parking is nice and comfortable in many scenarios. In Europe its also pretty normal to have streets stuffed with standing cars. I actually have no string negative feelings for this but when walking, i obviously enjoy streets with less obstacles there.

Here's something that I want people to keep in mind as they push for changes like this (I'm not against the changes, but this is a cautionary tale). Denver, the biggest city near me, is especially bad at making small scale changes like converting parking to bike lanes along a street... and then patting themselves on the back and considering it job done. Problem is, it's not part of a bigger plan, and usually done in isolation. The bike lanes often go mostly unused because they do this along business heavy areas, and few people live close enough to bike (it's getting better but mixed development wasn't really a thing in Denver until maybe 15 years ago) and now people who had to drive to that business because they were too far to walk or bike have nowhere to park, and end up cruising for parking, or even more often, giving up because the only parking to be found is too far to walk to the destination, and transit in the city is an absolute nightmare. I don't want to live in the city, but sometimes I have to go to the city for concerts, specialty shops, etc. I'd be perfectly happy to hop on a train or bus or whatever and walk or take transit around while visiting, but in many North American cities, that part doesn't exist yet. Please, please look at the comprehensive systems when pushing for changes. You can turn those parking spaces into a bike line or wider sidewalks, but maybe hold off on that step until other pieces of the puzzle are in place, and focus on the parts that reduce the need for the parking space in the first place.

For visuals and the health of having less cars in cities I'd like to be able to say yes let's get rid of them, but as someone who recently this summer lost the ability to walk normally, screw parking garages. I have to get from home to where I'm going door to door somehow and I need to do that with my own car unless the state is willing to pay for taxis for everybody or something of such sort, but that's not a good solution either.

Excellent video. Thank you for advancing this important field of practice and work 🙌🙏

This reminds me of a video I saw on FB where a guy was bragging about how he and a neighbor in a dense NJ neighborhoood keep two extra low value cars on the road so they can spread them out in the morning with no room to park between them... then in the evening, they park them close together so they can have a reserved spot for their main driver. The message was supposed to be "look how clever I am" but all I could think was "you selfish bastard - I'm glad I'm not your neighbor."

One thing that I, as a pedestrian, like about on-street parking is the barrier it provides me from moving traffic. I'm at least 8 feet farther from moving cars with a big wall of metal in between. I think it also makes urban patio dining more pleasant too, for the same reason. I feel safer walking along streets with street parking than I do walking along streets without. It also slows down traffic.

Charging restaurants for it is fair as long as you charge for parking too. Nothing is for free and if you get spaces where they are at a premium you need to pay for it.

So interesting to see this playing out in my hometown! I’m wondering how badly people are overstaying OR ticketed during farmers market haha.

I would be in favour if there was spaces kept specifically for disabled people and others with mobility issues. My mother has mobility issues but can’t be classed as disabled to get the blue badge and often it means parking at a car park and it’s very time consuming for to get around as she has to walk incredibly slow vs if she just popped into a shop from an adj space. It’s also an issue when carrying bags for example. I wouldn’t have a problem with able bodied people like myself being forbidden from those parking spaces and made to use car parks or garages. Here in Ireland as far I am aware we have high fines if you park in a disabled parking space, maybe the same could be done for these 2nd tier “prioritised” spaces

On thing that is not mentioned about street parking is how it prevents advertising your shop front to drivers and pedestrians. I live in Japan where there is no street parking and not being distracted from looking at the architecture and public art by a sea of parked cars makes living here all the more enjoyable (though yes, there are still way too many cars in Japan)

Dave, you probably wont read this but have you been to Naperville IL? I think you've mentioned them before. They have an amazing suburban downtown. There are several streets with no on street parking and it has one one major road cutting through the center but all the side roads are low volume. They have a free garage parking structure near the center and I believe free parking lots on the outer parts of the downtown. It has a small river that cuts through the edge of the downtown has had a really beautiful riverwalk making it great for walking and biking. Honestly, they could get rid off all the on-street parking given they have free lots throughout and these buildings tend to have an alley which might make for easy places to load and unload. Downton Arlington Heights, IL and Oak Brook, IL is much the same and both of these have at least one train line stop that takes you into the city of Chicago. Then there is downtown Evanston which is much more densely populated that I don't think compares to the more suburban downtown I've mentioned but it's very beautiful downtown for a suburb.

Glad you did a study for the video, it made for interesting talking points

bro i love your vids! cheers

Yes, make it into protected bike lanes or wider side walks. Put those parking in large multi story parking garages that have a fee

I think a comparison between parking spaces and a bike lane should include some comment on the effect of existing or absent bike racks for bikes to park.

Your parking study did not take into account that cars with a disabled placard can park in timed parking spots without a time limit.

Top quality work again City Beautiful. Thank you for what you do.

Yes. San Francisco could have dedicated lanes for most to all Muni lines if they ditched some street parking. Portland could have dedicated lanes for much more of the streetcar by ditching some street parking.

Maybe I missed it, but I'm surprised this doesn't take into account residential parking for locals. I know mixed-usage zones are rarer and rarer in the United States (which is extremely unfortunate - it seems to be one of the staples of well-balanced, self-sufficient local economies and healthy social environments in Europe). In my town most parking spots are those ' 3 hours max' type of parking, but we all ignore them because there's hundreds of people living in downtown apartments (over top of street front businesses) that have nowhere to park. In Europe that would not be a problem - just sell your car and take public transit to work - but this is America, a country that has waged a war on public transit as harsh as their war on 'drugs' and resource-tapping international military incursions. It's a shame because at the end of the day those businesses starting closing down because touristy-weekend-only traffic isn't enough. Everyone starts saying "Not enough people live downtown anymore" and nobody can figure out why - it's because governments, from the federal level to the municipal, make downtown residential people 3rd class citizens. They wish we wouldn't exist - or at least their regulations and official measures blatantly make that hidden intention clear...

It's also worth remembering that in many European towns and cities there are lots of residential streets where there isn't space for residents to park a car on their own property. I live on just such a street - off-street parking is possible on one side but not the over.

Yes. And places like NYC are a great example of it working already. Removing parking spaces allows for more foot traffic for businesses allowing them to expand to outdoor dining and getting overall more traffic in general

When I do transit planning, I look for space to put a bus or light rail lane. On-Street parking is my target for finding space

As with everything in city planning, it’s very complex. But I appreciate you showing the pros and cons. Maybe you could create a street parking cheat sheet? I know that would be helpful for me as someone learning about planning. Also, as I grew up in a suburb with practically no limits on parking, visiting my friends in Los Angeles was always incredibly stressful with trying to find parking, remembering cash, etc. I don’t live in a big city for one of those and many other reasons.

Parking studies can be interesting. I participated in one for my small city. The results challenged some notions.

In most languages, words "street, road, lane, etc." translate to path of movement. Parking is not movement. All parking must be off the streets. Pick-up + drop-off for people should be allowed for most of street length. Spot for cargo loading+unloading needs to be provided at certain spots based on distance (from annother such spot), population density, etc.

In Pittsburgh, a lot of bike lanes and on-street dining were installed by making formerly 2 way streets into 1 way streets.

It seems there need to be seasonal and regional considerations, too. If you're shopping downtown in a city in Wisconsin or Minnesota in December, January, or February, it's a different calculation than you'd make for a dedicated bike lane in San Luis Obispo.

Dang, this was far more complicated then I thought it would be. Another terrific video.

I think what concerns many cyclists is will their bike be there when they come back. Secure bike parking will encourage bike ridership. Yes, get a beater, cover with stickers and use two u-locks. Get a grandma bike like they use in the EU. We need secure bike parking.

Ideally, there would be an alley between blocks of stores to access parking lots and for delivery trucks. Maybe when I have billions to spend on designing a new city, alternate streets will be either for pedestrians/bikes/trams or for cars and trucks, keeping them entirely separate.

That bunny stock footage is just hilarious :D

I really liked seeing a little bit of a peak behind the kind of research a city planner does. Cool video! Off topic question because I’m curious but forgetful. Are you Dr. City Beautiful yet?

9:22 why did the audio cut off? Also, interesting video. I wonder what the cut-off point is for a road being suitable to have on-street parking.

Personally, I never liked parallel parking on busy streets. In fact, I dislike it so much, that I'd much rather have parking lots or garages built within walking distance of all those businesses that were dependent on street parking, even using eminent domain if need be, and repurpose the street parking for bus and delivery truck lanes that could optionally be shared with cyclists.

I live in an apartment complex. Thinking about this, it hurts walkability in an otherwise dense area. These complexes range in size from a big box store to entire strip mall. On top of that they have less entrances. My nearest shopping center is only 200 yards away but I have to walk 800 yards to get there by walking 150 yards the wrong way and then around 2 other complexes. 1600 yards to the nearest retail is to far to conveniently walk, especially since it is a CVS, a few restaurants, and a salon. The grocery store and the bank left.

I avoid on street parking as much as possible. I greatly prefer finding a lot. But even if I didn't prefer them, I think they probably are more cost effective for non-free parking since you can have a single machine at the entrance instead of a separate meter at every parking space. Underground parking is my favorite option of all. I don't go into cities often (partly because I end up spending too much money every time I do) but when I do I look for a place to park in this order: 1) underground, 2) above ground parking deck, 3) ground level parking lot, 4) on street parking.

Leaving this comment without having paper evidence on hand, could a case possibly be made for every-block, fixed-price-increase-per-minute/hour compact parking ramps or small lots? This way, streets could be left clear to outdoor dining blocks, delivery vehicles, and bikes, while cars, removed from the street, still have a place to go, at least in my head. The key point here is that if possible, said parking places are on every block (or every other block, or possibly further as long as associated destinations are within comfortable walking distance), and because they are per-block, they can then be tiny... and then in turn, each could be a small local business. I saw a model somewhat like this in Tijuana, Mexico, with tiny parking lots slotted between taller, mixed-use buildings, and to me it seems to work, at least. Admittedly though, somewhat deviating from topic, I feel like a lot of problems with private transit... or, I suppose, the solutions given to solve private transit problems... are more like stem-level fixes (at least here in the United States) rather than solutions at the root-level. If US zoning laws could only be amended to permit the placement of critical commercial businesses (grocery stores, mainly, but... heck, cafes, barber shops, convenience stores, even?) in residential areas (that is, with the same spacing priorities as schools, or denser) instead of the hyper-segregated "only houses here, and any shops must be way over there" mega-blocks we have now, I feel like people would definitely feel less forced to take cars everywhere. Additional thoughts are welcome? In any case, thanks for the video!

Another example of car drivers and owners getting everything subsidised. The great thing about expensive parking is it makes more funds available for worthwhile things like transit.

I love those bike lanes on bloor street west and danforth Ave in Toronto. ❤ it was needed.

this is the most civil and respectful comment section I have seen on youtube in forever wow

No, they shouldn't. They Should just put the parking spaces at an angle to narrow the street.

I'm a bit confused by the drone footage. There's plenty of parking structure space too. I'm all for removing street parking if affordable parking lots exist. Actually I wonder why a shared lot on the outer areas of a business district with a shuttle or trolley stop isn't the standard bridge between car centric and pubic transit.

I don't think they even try in some cities now. My entire street is "2 hour parking" and nobody care or enforces it. Me, and everyone else, regularly park there all day and we never get tickets. There is a lot of construction too which has led to people just parking in bike lanes when they close the street parking. Again, no tickets. I'm thankful for it, as there is no alternative for less than $200/month. The problem is that they keep approving 100+ unit apartment buildings with ZERO parking. This is a city that does not have a subway/rail system beyond a single north/south route, has unreliable busses, a patchwork and incomplete bike lane system, and safety is an issue in many parts of the city for those that do take public transit. I don't know the solution, but removing the parking we do have without replacing it is not it. I'm also moving to the suburbs as soon as I can.

Yes. Here in Detroit, street parking could be replaced with a tram line, as would be the case when/if the M1 Rail gets extended to Pontiac.

Great stuff! In one of your SLO clips, I think I saw a sign for off-street public parking. (Possibly in that big multilevel garage?) How does this kind of city-owned parking fit into the equation? One thing off-street lots do is prevent parallel parkers from temporarily holding up traffic as they get in and out of spaces. Is the opportunity cost of dedicating off-street land to parking necessarily higher than the cost of using a street lane for parking vs. bike lanes or parklets?

Living in city ( Atlanta) which has eliminated a lot of on street parking I have strong opinions on this. 1. On street spaces here are typically 8x22 or 176 square feet. For planning purposes, we use 300-400 sf for a deck or lot. I would not call that environmentally friendly. Often older buildings have been demolished to build profitable private lots ( follow the "campaign contributions" on that) which creates a snaggle tooth feel that is not comfortably walkable. When that happens the on street parking is replaced by a bike or extra moving lane and the street becomes a faster way to blow through a neighborhood since on street parking also slows traffic. 3. On street parking creates a safety barrier both psychologically and physically between pedestrians and moving traffic. 3 Current codes here require on street active use in new buildings i.e. retail , restaurants etc which remain vacant or low use. Often the back door facing off street parking becomes the main entrance and the street entrance is under used or even locked. 5. We're also seeing a hybrid: midrise buildings 50-100' off a stroad with vacant storefronts at the base and not a pedestrian in sight despite a winding landscaped sidewalk next to the stroad 6. On street says "somebody's home" in business areas. 5. Here at least I will say that show me a street with no on street parking and I'll show you one with fast traffic and many empty or under used storefronts and few if any pedestrians.

Where I live in Brisbane, Australia there is a major road called Gympie Road. This road starts at an intersection of other major roads and heads north past the biggest shopping centre in town (Westfield Chermside) and then continues on past other shops and stuff. The section between the southern end and the big shopping centre is probably as close as Brisbane gets to a Stroad. This road among other things sees a lot of bus traffic heading from the CBD to Westfield Chermside and beyond and the government wants to build what they call the "northern transitway" which is intended to be a set of bus lanes (and bus priority improvements) along this stretch of road. This is much needed (I have been on buses where it has taken 3 light changes to move through a particular intersection along this stretch of road. The problem with this project is that whilst the initial plan was for bus lanes that would operate 24/7, the government bowed down to the wishes of business owners (including a bunch of car yards) over the loss of on-street parking (which in this area is free to use) and changed the plans so the busways will only operate during peak times (despite the clear need for the bus lanes even during non peak times just based on my own observations). Wish we had a government with the guts to say NO to the business owners and make the bus lanes 24/7 which will provide a much bigger overall benefit than a few people being able to park their cars in front of a car yard or other business.

Very interesting video, thanks for the analysis! I am interested in how many of your videos, especially around walkability/car-centric cities, apply to snowy cities. Where I live, mid November to March is snowy and cold, and the bike lanes the city has put in get 0 use in those months. Anecdotally speaking, but almost everyone I know prefers to use a car even for short commutes due to the discomfort of walking/biking/waiting outside for public transit in snowy or freezing conditions. Would love to hear some techniques city planners use to accommodate for winter stricken cities like mine.

As much as I agree with this video, its genuinely impossible in my area's current situation. The goal right now is to limit it to just on-street parking, rather than expansive parking lots. Installing sidewalks is our step one here, completely removing cars from the business areas would be like telling people they are losing everything they know. Its not a good situation, the fact that sidewalks are even a question as to if you'll find one is horrible, but starting with on-street parking is the only real way to get any progress.

Cool of you to give your students a shout-out. Oftentimes not something that happens

I basically never go shopping downtown. I'm not going to pay to park so that I can pay to support a business. I'll just support more urban businesses that provide the basic service of a parking spot.

what no one ever takes into account is that buying a car is one of the largest purchases a person makes in their life. When buying that car they have an understand there is X amount of parking available ergo i should expect Z when it comes to finding parking. When we reduce X then people already with cars suffer more and it also pushes car's into becoming something the lower and middle class have more trouble to afford. The rich with unlimited money ofc would barely be affected losing free parking and they tend to own homes with driveways so they couldn't care less about street parking. If bicyclists want part of the pie that cars have then they should also be held to the same strict standards cars do. So many of the bicyclists i have come across straight up ignore traffic laws and i have had significantly more close calls with bikes than cars as a pedestrian, despite bikes having a popularity boom fairly recently. Bikes need to have license plates so hazardous riders can be properly held accountable.

I live in Hamiton Ontario and recently the city rejigged our two main stroads through the city by adding bus lanes. The car-centric crowd got all uppity because traffic increased, moaning about the bus-only lanes...meanwhile street parking on this major stroad takes up an entire lane of traffic and is usually occupied sparingly by a car or two every couple of blocks because of some legacy business from a bygone era. It's a major headache. Street parking should be for side streets only.

06:10 Best stock footage ever 🐰🤣

Let’s apply the mullet rule: Biking in the front; parking in the back.

In Sydney on-street parking reduces and slows through traffic in shopping streets at off peak times compared to peak times when parking is banned and through traffic uses kerbside lanes. It therefore it has a side benefit of improving walkability.

I never parallel park, I hate it, but you also need to make sure you have sufficient parking garages nearby. My local city is very walkable, but it has accessible parking garages every block or two. I do think it's good to have "quick spaces" that allow you to park for a few minutes, which tend to mean they don't park too close together.

My big issue with parking meters are that you have to gauge how long you're going to be parked somewhere, especially important if your local parking pigs are particularly vicious. My city has structures in it's downtown, and while ugly, it's a more efficient way of handling demand for parking and you can just pay for however long you need to be there. I will walk a longer distance to use either free or structure parking as a result.

Great video.

We need better public transportation if we want to reduce parking. If things were similar to other countries or even cities like DC or NYC people wouldn’t be as car dependent.

In my make believe world in my head, every building would have to have underground parking to meet their individual needs. They’d also need to cover as much space inside/on their building with plantlife as their footprint.

On-street parking on commercial streets are a waste of space (and result in traffic jams when people want to get in and out of spots) And it's totally unnecessary to have the parking on the street. In busy places, people still end up parking a couple blocks away from their destination anyway. Places should widen sidewalks, add bike lanes, or allow patios. That's a much better use of price real estate. Move car storage to less active locations.

0:27 two parking garages with lots of empty spots.

Yay SLC for finding that bikes are good. Can you try applying that now?

It is strange to see Streets with out bike-lanes, as we have in Denmark. It is so difficult to park in Copenhagen so a lot of people actualy take the train to Copenhagen from out side the city✌🏼👍🏼😄 love it.

It would be ideal if there were a compromise here. Not everyone _can_ ride a bike _or_ walk. How many of those people are able to use the street parking? If it isn't reserved, marked for accessibility, etc? Maybe not so many as would gain the most benefit. Bike and pedestrianization is, for the most part, a net positive for a community, but it doesn't undo the need for parking and shortening the walking/wheelchair distance by having nearer parking can be a great service for many. Plus, the fact of the matter is, people have cars and people use cars. Encouraging use of biking, walking, public transit, etc can reduce car traffic, but unless you've made a car inaccessible area, there will still be a drive for...driving. Street parking, as it is in many contexts, doesn't do a great job of fulfilling the needs of those who most need it, but it can mitigate them. Since cars will still be a thing, those people will still need to put them somewhere, which is where parkinglots and parking garages come into the picture...which bring their own, many issues. I'm not someone qualified to say what the solution would be, so I won't offer one. I would just say that I do not believe it would be a simple matter going one way or the other. You would gain and lose no matter what you do; so, if some sort of compromise can't be found, then it really behooves the planner to identify what would best serve that specific community/location. One would hope it would be one that caters best to everyone, but that just simply isn't possible everywhere.

I am generally in favour of more walkable/bikeable neighbourhoods. On a recent trip to Montreal I noticed on St. Catherine street how it has been set up to discourage cars. The problem is: it also discourages people with mobility issues. The first parking space I found was a whole km from my intended destination. The cobbled streets are worse for wheeled mobility aids than the usual bad pavement. The sidewalks often had debris that became barriers to anyone who isn't able to walk perfectly. Rather than eliminate on street parking entirely, keep much of it, and designate it for accessible permits only.

As someone who bikes a lot in my city, on street parking is the absolute worst. It is absolutely awful being between two cars with only a foot of space on either side. This makes drivers and bikers "compete" for the road which should be shared because the design creates a contant tension between cars and bikes. Cars have to be extra weary of bikes, often having to move a little bit into the other lane to give the bike extra space and bikers have to be extremely weary of cars on both sides, as a forgotten signal or careless driver can quickly end a life. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with cars. With a group of friends a car ride can be one of the most memorable parts of the night. But cars should not be the only option and modes of transportation should work in harmony and never against each other. The main problem I have with on street parking is that it by discouraging bikers, there are less bikers. When there are less bikers (or none in particularly hostile places to bikers) cars watch out for them less and forget to share the road, which is where accidents and fatalities happen. And since nobody bikes, people often assume that biking just sadly isn't possible so we should move on when in reality, we should be separating cars and bikes in order to create a more harmonious balance to accommodate both modes of transportation.

I like the concept of bike lanes. I do think they have a positive impact on cities. However, perhaps in Northern climates they could be seasonal, say from April 15th through November 15th. There is definitely a drop off in bike use during the winter months and many of those bike riders are probably using cars and could benefit local business with additional parking. Has this concept been tried anywhere?

Your TYPICAL city is San Luis Obispo? Give me a break. Parking is better than bike lanes. I live in Portland a bike Mecca. I don’t believe your study. Portland’s bike lanes are underutilized compared to parking. The problems with studies where the authors have an axe to grind are infamous.

A well-balanced take on the issue. I'm a car-guy and a lot of channels tend to make very biased judgements, but what's said here is just logical and reasonable. A subject I'd love for you to cover would be the implementation of Keicar laws outside Japan. What impact could these laws have on parking, congestion, city planning, emissions etc. This would be particularly interesting if you'd bring the Keicar concept into the 21st century and make it electric.

In Japan, they make parking building about 4-5 story height. They use lift and may be mechanic to pack up many cars efficiently. No need get rid of cars to gain space. Everybody happy. Very little road side parking or maybe none.

Having elderly parents has shown me that unless parking is close to their destination they have difficulties getting out. Also any parent who’s child is still in a stroller and multiple young children may need close parking. Must really depend on the demographics and family make up of the area your in as well as the what type of businesses or services are in that area and the demographics of the people who use their services. Really enjoy watching your videos as they get me thinking about how we could design our cities better. We certainly could do so much better so great that people like you are working on this.

The more I think about it the more I think cities should just get rid of cars entirely, imagine if we replaced them with trolleys, covered walking/bicycle/personal ev lanes, and greenery, add parking structures to the periphery, and along highways. It would make cities much nicer, faster, cleaner and safer, and help with emmissions substantially. Everyone hates driving in cities anyway.

I think the best compromise solution for on street parking in real cities is to have alternating blocks be one way in each direction and instead of the street being two travel lanes and parallel parking on both sides instead have it be one car travel lane in one direction, diagonal parking on the right side and a two-way protected bike lane on the other. The overall street is no wider, bikes can safely use every street and the diagonal parking is easier/faster to pull into and safer with the doors out of the travel lanes or sidewalks. You'll still have more than 50% of the parking you had in the current approach. I particularly like diagonal parking because if you are driving along the block and suddenly see an open space you can pull right in versus having to go past the space and backup to parallel park which can be a challenge if someone is driving right behind you.

I was wondering about certain increases in parking in some neighborhoods. Business owners immediately believe there will be a loss of business, but if it increases parking turnover, it would actually increase the number of people able to park and order take out. There is also a need for quick turnover for DoorDash and other food delivery services. I can’t tell you how difficult it is parking just to pick up orders in Seattle, but it is because street parking is being used for very long periods when it should really be short drop offs and pickups. Garages underground should be used for longer periods.

While I am in favor of bike lanes...there is a place that I like to go to for lunch during the week. I don't go very often though because there is very little parking and you can't really get there without a car. As for parking fees, more and more cities have privatized that aspect so the city isn't getting that money. Private businesses are, and they often have contracts that are not in the public's interest

Here where i live, Sao Paulo, Brazil. The street where my parents own a store, its a little downtown area, the town hall decided to charge for street parking, results: the consumers used to park their cars to go shopping, now that they must pay for parking in the street, they prefer to go online shopping or to big shopping malls. So the street now are a desert, with a big drop in local sales, plenty stores are closing. Cars are not enemies at all...

Here in Phoenix, I'd like to see this study... Because when for many months out of the year its over 100 and for 2-3 months its almost 115 atleast each day, there is not many people out biking in our heat. Now cars with A/C, that is more valuable then a bike lane. The amount of streets we've added bike lanes to is insane, and I've NEVER seen most used... and the ones that do, risk their own safety as most of the time, they will get hit by a car... Drivers are horrible here.

I just watched a few days ago a video about improving the suburb by converting all those parking lots into communities with street parking and pedestrian-friendly streets.

Great video, as usual! I watched on Nebula. 😉 Parked cars really don't belong on the street, except in some highly limited cases. Japan is the only country that does this properly, however. We need to break this expectation that drivers can just park at the side of the road. Cars are not horses.