NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When the U.S. has 3-8 parking spaces for every car, it’s clear that a parking spot surplus problem is out of control. Renowned parking authority MyParkingSign.com conducted internal research and devised a study, “Free Parking Fallacies,” to investigate excessive parking and trends in parking sign sales.
The study features an exclusive interview with parking guru and UCLA professor Donald Shoup, and an attractive infographic that shows how damaging parking oversupply is environmentally and financially. Additionally, a downloadable report delves into the reasons behind excess spaces, citing reasons such as less reliance on automobiles, parking minimum standards that leave too many underused areas, and high vacancy rates in parking garages.
Shocking facts:
- If all of America’s parking spaces were condensed, they would take up an area larger than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.
- Creating and maintaining parking spots contributes as much as 90% to a car’s lifetime soot level emissions.
- The equivalent annual average cost of parking one U.S. vehicle is $12,000, far more than the value of the average vehicle, $5,507.
- 40% of U.S. parking supply is due to local parking minimums alone – and doesn’t serve consumer needs.
MyParkingSign also unearthed some fascinating trends about sign and permit purchases. Over the span of the last five years (2009-2013), search traffic for the term “parking permits” is up 170%, and sales of 1 hour parking signs decreased by 66%, while sales of 10 minute parking signs increased by 89%. The public seems to be organizing lots to an unprecedented degree.
Much of the excess parking is because of municipal parking minimums, which require developers to build certain amounts of parking alongside new buildings. Shoup says, “I’m not recommending reducing parking. I'd recommend reducing parking requirements. That's something very different from that. Reducing parking requirements is not the same thing as limiting parking or removing parking. It's just sort of getting out of the way.”
To view the study, visit http://www.myparkingsign.com/blog/free-parking. For the podcast and transcript of MyParkingSign’s interview with Donald Shoup, go to www.myparkingsign.com/blog/donald-shoup.
Notes to editors:
- Research references can be found on the study’s home page.
About MyParkingSign.com
MyParkingSign is the largest online distributor of parking and traffic signs. Find over 3,000 different parking signs in stock as well as labels and accessories. Customers can create signs using convenient customization wizards.
About SmartSign
SmartSign is one of America's fastest growing e-commerce companies and parent of MyParkingSign, MySafetySign, and more than 50 other sites. The company manufactures and distributes a wide range of signs, tags, mats, and labels. By positioning "signs as solutions," SmartSign has taken a novel approach to ordering signs. Through creating highly targeted, content-rich, and authoritative retail sites, the company provides specific solutions to specific problems, such as stopping illegal parking.