Variable pricing — charging different prices at different times — usually gets referenced in public policy debates as congestion pricing or cordon pricing: a fee to drive in a certain area during rush hour. As is often the case in urban planning, Singapore has been on the cutting edge of this, first trying it out in 1975. But the highest profile example has been the London City (downtown financial district) congestion pricing system, running since 2003.
While variable pricing is most often thought of as a way to provide incentives for cars driving, it can also be used for cars that are parked, too. Like lunch, there’s no such thing as “free parking.” Curbside parking that we don’t pay for costs us in other ways, whether from increased congestion from losing a lane on the street, to the time wasted circling looking for a spot in a downtown area. Performance pricing on parking meters is one way to make sure that parking availability on crowded city streets is subject to market demand. This can increase budget revenues for municipalities while keeping you from circling the block for hours looking for a spot.
In my hometown of Arlington, VA, the county is giving “performance parking” a shot, with the idea of aiming to keep parking spots on streets 85% full (PDF). Parking meters and parking ticket machines will be programmed to respond to observed parking rates so that it costs more to park in an area when it’s busier. The immediate thought is that this would benefit only those looking to park in the Wilson Boulevard business corridor during the week. But I can’t help but think that it’ll help with parking in the Clarendon area as well, where weekend nights find cars slowly rolling around looking for spots. People are stuck in their cars looking for a spot to open up, rather than in one of the nearby clubs that local bands play. Performance parking is a way to solve that problem.
Variable pricing is aimed at reducing congestion and increasing local revenues, but a better chance to hear rock and roll in Northern Virginia might be the upshot.
