There鈥檚 no such thing as a free lunch 鈥� and no such thing as free parking, according to an influential author speaking in Austin today.
The and City Council Member Chris Riley are hosting a conversation this evening with . Shoup鈥檚 2005 book, , argues that on-street parking is a valuable commodity in cities, and should be priced accordingly to cut down on traffic congestion and pollution.
KUT News spoke with Shoup this morning. He noted the University of Texas campus was a perfect example of some of the arguments he鈥檚 made.
鈥淎t a university, you can see what an urban area can look like if people pay for parking," he says. "I understand it鈥檚 $18 a day to pay for parking on campus. Well, why is it so expensive? Because that鈥檚 what it costs to provide it. When you go in the rest of Austin, it鈥檚 always almost free. It鈥檚 usually free. Well if the driver doesn鈥檛 pay for parking, who does? Well, everybody pays for parking, including people who are too poor to own a car. And there has to be awful lot of parking to satisfy the demand for people who pay nothing.鈥�
Shoup鈥檚 appearance comes as the city embarks on to improve downtown mobility. He鈥檚 speaking at a public meeting tonight at St. David鈥檚 Epsicopal Church, , at 5 p.m. 鈥� just in time for rush hour traffic.
