{"items": [{"author": "Neil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851222486192", "anchor": "fb-851222486192", "service": "fb", "text": "A solution I've thought makes sense, for quite a while now. I'd probably make it a transferable right, granted to existing home owners.", "timestamp": "1488319227"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851222486192&reply_comment_id=851224038082", "anchor": "fb-851222486192_851224038082", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Among other benefits, turning the parking rights into property may address Howie's worry about the new residents taking the rights back. I'm no legal expert but I could imagine that not being possible for property.", "timestamp": "1488319694"}, {"author": "Howie", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851222486192&reply_comment_id=851224522112", "anchor": "fb-851222486192_851224522112", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Agree that this would help. I think the problem, though, is that it would still be a form of property that the government could create more of, and devalue, at will.", "timestamp": "1488319861"}, {"author": "Howie", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851222486192&reply_comment_id=851224831492", "anchor": "fb-851222486192_851224831492", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Might work better if you let people own the spaces instead of a permit that could work on any space in the area. Although this would artificiality limit supply a bit.", "timestamp": "1488320054"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851222486192&reply_comment_id=851224996162", "anchor": "fb-851222486192_851224996162", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I could imagine something where people's rights are protected by owning certain spots, but then they arrange to share the spots with some permitting system like we have now.", "timestamp": "1488320134"}, {"author": "Howie", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851222715732", "anchor": "fb-851222715732", "service": "fb", "text": "I like the idea but some considerations against:
Is this a stable equilibrium? How many of these can you build before the people in non parking units are powerful enough to demand parking permits? Also how much parking demand is created by a new unit without a parking permit? (E.g. do their guests take up non permitted parking spaces nearby)?", "timestamp": "1488319293"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851226133882", "anchor": "fb-851226133882", "service": "fb", "text": "This seems like another case of a problem I'm noticing more and more: a deal that would leave everyone better off, that isn't being made because no one thinks it could be enforced", "timestamp": "1488320546"}, {"author": "David Chudzicki", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851226528092", "anchor": "fb-851226528092", "service": "fb", "text": "Maybe minor/solveable, but wouldn't this still leave people with parking rights worse off, in that it's harder for them to find parking? I'm imagining with cheaper no-parking units available, a higher fraction of the units with parking rights will be occupied by people with cars.
In other words, the current system relies on people like you and me paying more for rights we don't use.
I think probably part of what maintains this is the fact that people with cars have disproportionate local political power.", "timestamp": "1488320760"}, {"author": "Peter", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851268159662", "anchor": "fb-851268159662", "service": "fb", "text": "So could people with parking rights sell them to people without? Sort of like cab medallions?", "timestamp": "1488332675"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851268159662&reply_comment_id=851269317342", "anchor": "fb-851268159662_851269317342", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I think the proposal is probably most politically palatable in liberal places if it's just \"add transit-only units that don't get parking\". I'm fine with a medallion style system, and like it better than the current system, but a lot of people are rubbed the wrong way by making new markets (privatizing street parking).", "timestamp": "1488333156"}, {"author": "Mark", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851278718502", "anchor": "fb-851278718502", "service": "fb", "text": "I think you have a Unicode issue? \"\u00e2\u20ac\"", "timestamp": "1488336998"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851278718502&reply_comment_id=851350035582", "anchor": "fb-851278718502_851350035582", "service": "fb", "text": "→ fixed, thanks!
(someday I'll make my blog unicode-capable all the way through)", "timestamp": "1488369085"}, {"author": "Emily", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362", "anchor": "fb-851356632362", "service": "fb", "text": "This was being sort of discussed regarding new developments near my house. The guests were more of a concern than the actual people living there, in this discussion. If you add housing with no parking on purpose in a less urban part of the city like Medford, where most of my friends want to drive to visit, there absolutely needs to be guest parking. In the middle of the city or would be less of an issue, though still if you have out of town guests, it would be dumb for them to have to pay 30$+ in parking per day to visit", "timestamp": "1488373209"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362&reply_comment_id=851368972632", "anchor": "fb-851356632362_851368972632", "service": "fb", "text": "→ This proposal intended for areas where living/visiting without a car is impractical.", "timestamp": "1488379760"}, {"author": "Emily", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362&reply_comment_id=851371921722", "anchor": "fb-851356632362_851371921722", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Right, but even say in Boston where to visit you don't need a car, they would need to implement affordable longer term visitor lots for people who don't want to fly. It is practical to visit Boston or NYC with no car, but some people don't have the means to do that.", "timestamp": "1488381483"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362&reply_comment_id=851382231062", "anchor": "fb-851356632362_851382231062", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Emily: driving to a T lot and parking there should be fine for this, no?
http://mbta.com/riding_the_t/parking/ and http://mbta.com/riding_the_t/parking/default.asp?id=25204... have details.", "timestamp": "1488386281"}, {"author": "Emily", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362&reply_comment_id=851387944612", "anchor": "fb-851356632362_851387944612", "service": "fb", "text": "→ You're not generally allowed to leave your car in the t lots or garages indefinitely though right? They would also need to increase either the number of lots or the lot capacities since many or even most of them fill up super early on weekdays (even Wellington, with over 1000 spots) fills to capacity on weekdays by early pm) anyway, and added staying cars would really decrease existing commuter capacity", "timestamp": "1488389146"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362&reply_comment_id=851404002432", "anchor": "fb-851356632362_851404002432", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Emily: \"You're not generally allowed to leave your car in the t lots or garages indefinitely though right?\"
I thought we were talking about out-of-town visitors?
\"They would also need to increase either the number of lots or the lot capacities\"
I'm really not that worried about this. If there start being lots of long-term visitors to an area who want to park their cars, people can run private lots to park them in. Probably in areas well out of the city with cheap land, combined with a shuttle.", "timestamp": "1488396903"}, {"author": "Emily", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851356632362&reply_comment_id=851404506422", "anchor": "fb-851356632362_851404506422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Right, my question about the t lots means that if you're not allowed longer term parking there, it might become an issue if that was the new standard idea. More local people wouldn't be as affected by this. Additional lots with a shuttle would solve that issue.", "timestamp": "1488397140"}, {"author": "Bil", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202", "anchor": "fb-851365195202", "service": "fb", "text": "What if we made public transportation so efficient, so inexpensive, that nobody wanted to keep a car in town?", "timestamp": "1488377447"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202&reply_comment_id=851368578422", "anchor": "fb-851365195202_851368578422", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I don't see how public transportation can be that efficient. If almost everyone moves to public transportation, so that the roads are mostly clear of traffic, driving point to point would be extremely fast. What are you envisioning for public transit that could compete with that? An enormous quantity of subway tunnels?", "timestamp": "1488379532"}, {"author": "Emily", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202&reply_comment_id=851372675212", "anchor": "fb-851365195202_851372675212", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Also, people still would want to have cars for out of town visits, working outside the city, etc. Even in Europe where most people take the efficient public transit, trains stop running at certain times, and many people have cars for the reason of working odd hours or needing to transport larger objects with regularity. I don't have a car and often am ineligible for jobs because they don't have company vehicles and many objects must be transported.", "timestamp": "1488381685"}, {"author": "Alexander", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202&reply_comment_id=851388688122", "anchor": "fb-851365195202_851388688122", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff: At least in Europe pedestrians, traffic lights, taxis (and now ubers), delivery vans, winding roads, and buses still slow things down plenty; even if there's little traffic from privately-owned cars you just can't go *that* fast through the center of London. I'd generally expect the tube and train (subway) to be about as fast or slightly faster for trips of more than a few miles at traffic-light times, and picking a couple of locations a few miles away from me at random google maps agrees.", "timestamp": "1488389704"}, {"author": "Jeff Kaufman", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202&reply_comment_id=851404805822", "anchor": "fb-851365195202_851404805822", "service": "fb", "text": "→ @Alexander: you can totally make public transportation as fast as private cars if you count taxi/ubers as public, but I usually see them considered private and I didn't think Bil was talking about them.
There are very few local trips in the US where non-car is faster than car travel, and almost all of those are because density is high enough that traffic is high enough that cars are very slow. Which is not the same as making public transportation so efficient/inexpensive that no one wants to take cars.", "timestamp": "1488397340"}, {"author": "Alexander", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202&reply_comment_id=851406407612", "anchor": "fb-851365195202_851406407612", "service": "fb", "text": "→ Jeff: I don't think that was quite my point, I'm basically saying that even if nobody in London owned a car for personal use (the subject of your OP), the roads would still be very busy, because of taxis/buses/vans/coaches/etc. And so you'd still have to drive slowly. After writing the above comment I walked home at rush hour, and out of interest tried to keep track of how many of the vehicles I walked past were plausibly* cars for personal use of the kind that would need a parking space attached to housing, scaling for size a bit (i.e. counting buses as 2). I got less than 40%. Then there's non-car sources of congestion, like pedestrians and traffic lights.
So I don't think it's necessarily true that \"If almost everyone moves to public transportation, so that the roads are mostly clear of traffic, driving point to point would be extremely fast. \". Because I don't think the 'mostly clear of traffic' bit actually necessarily follows.
I can certainly believe the above is basically true in the US though.
*Plausibly beacuse I can't distinguish Ubers from the oustide, but there aren't that many of them anyway.", "timestamp": "1488397994"}, {"author": "Michael", "source_link": "https://www.facebook.com/jefftk/posts/851221093982?comment_id=851365195202&reply_comment_id=851467385412", "anchor": "fb-851365195202_851467385412", "service": "fb", "text": "→ I think this is sort of backwards. In order to *get* to a public transportation system that good, we need to grow the constituency of people making regular use of it and demanding improvements from their representatives. One of the ways to do *that* is the kind of parking changes Jeff is describing.", "timestamp": "1488424134"}]}