Kelly: Is there a downside? I’m thinking of people trying to find a parking place, for starters.
Horowitz: So we see that in places that have actually eliminated parking minimums, that we see fewer people driving at all and having cars and we see vehicle miles traveled decrease because people can get around via other mechanisms.
Well, now, would you look at that?! If we change the incentives, if we stop incentivizing driving by law, people change their behavior. In this case, they can save a ton of money by not needing a car.
No you don’t. Just fix the zoning and people will figure it out, public transit or not.
“But we can’t reduce parking until we have transit” is (a) backwards and (b) often a bad-faith excuse given by sprawl-supporters.
Tell that to the folks about to be late for Jury Duty unless they fork over 25 bucks to park.
Some other folks just took the bus.
Bus service isn’t viable in most of the US. Taking 3 hours to get the same distance as 15 minutes in a car isn’t a functional option.
Ok even here that is a sweeping exaggeration. I can walk a 15 minute city drive in less than 3 hours. Our bus system has been brutally starved by the county but even so, to get to yoga:
10 minutes driving
40-45 minutes walking
25 minutes bus (including the walking a few blocks)