On-Street Parking Spaces for Shared Cars

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report that the largest barrier to expanding carsharing is finding and financing parking spaces for these vehicles, and suggest that there are three benefits for cities to offer free or discounted parking on streets: visibility, convenience, and availability.

Abstract: The advantages of carsharing are that it can increase mobility for people who might otherwise be carless, and decrease auto travel among people who previously owned a car and give it up. But the author of this article reports that the largest barrier to expanding carsharing is finding and financing parking spaces for these vehicles. She suggests there are three benefits for cities to offer free or discounted parking on streets: visibility, which increases awareness of carsharing; convenience, which makes carsharing work better for those using it; and, availability, which allows carsharing programs to expand in urban areas where parking spaces are typically difficult to find. The author describes how to design an on-street parking policy for shared cars, provides case studies of on-street parking policy, and describes how cities can plan for shared cars.