A Line in the Sand: Shoup VS. O’Toole


San Francisco to be Laboratory for the “ShoupModel”


A Parking Going Viral


It’s every blogger’s dream. A posting on your blog gets picked up and referenced far andwide. Suddenly, people are coming to yourwebsite, your numbers are off the charts. You have arrived.


Parking has arrived. A fewweeks ago, TheNew York Times printed “Free Parking Comes at a Price,” a commentary by Tyler Cowen, a Professor of Economics atGeorgeMasonUniversity. It caused quite a stir in the elitemedia.


Since no one reads books but everyone readsNew York Times and blogs, five years after Shoup’s book “TheHigh Price of Free Parking”was published, hismodel suddenlywent viral and literally hundreds of bloggers comment- ed, pro and con.


One of themost famous “cons”was fromRandalO’Toole, a Cato Institute Senior Fellowwhoworks on urban growth, public land and transportation issues.He commented on Cowen’s viewpoint in “FreeMarkets for Free Parking,” taking umbragewithmuch of Shoup’s parkingmodel.


Shoup tells PT that he normally doesn’t comment on blog postings, but since the Cato Institute andO’Toole are so well-known and -respected, he decided to do so in this case. PT thought this controversy so important that it post- ed Shoup’s entire response toO’Toole on its Blog here.


We suggest you first read Cowen’s commentary, thenO’Toole’s reaction to it, and then Shoup’s response to O’Toole. The latter clarifiesmuch thatwe have seen in the blogosphere about the Shoup parkingmodel.Diehard Shoupistas already knowall this, but for the rest of you, itwill save you the trouble of reading the book.


If you go online towww.parkingtoday.comand click on our “e”magazine, youwill find all the links above “hot.” If not, go directly to: http://parkingtoday.typepad.com/parking_blog/2010/09/don-shoup-strikes-back-.html. All the links are there. – JVH


14 OCTOBER 2010 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


BUSINESS-SECTION COMMENTARY INTHE NEW YorkTimes, the start of a newparking programin San Fran- cisco, and a very public debate between UCLA Urban Planning professorDon Shoup and Senior FellowRandal


O’Toole of theCato Institute have created a perfect stormin the parking industry. PT’s Blog has been carrying the story in real-time over the pastmonth.We have seen it go “viral” (see sidebar) on the internet.


This has brought the discussion fromthe pages of trade journals and specialty blogs to theMain StreamMedia. The NY Times,Washing- ton Post, SF Examiner, LA Times and TV stations nationwide are discussing parking andwhether “free” is theway to go.


These two articles give different views of the controversy.Consult- ant Patrick Siegman has worked with the city of San Francisco to put Shoup’s parkingmodel into practice on a large scale.Con- sultant PeterGuest, a regular Parking Today contributor, has worked with cities worldwide in solving their parking issues. Both have real-world experience. Both bring credentials to the discussion.


For a detailed background on Shoup’s theories, and some tough dialogue between himand some detractors, check the links in the sidebar “ParkingGoneViral.”


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