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The root cause of the parking difficulty
Published Time:
2020-03-27
Recently participated in legislative research and solicited opinions in several cities, and found that the competent authorities in many cities mostly perceive parking issues superficially, dealing with matters on a case-by-case basis without grasping the essence of the problem, which leads to policies not gaining public approval and failing to achieve their initial goals after implementation.
I've recently participated in legislative research and solicited opinions in several cities. I've found that many urban authorities' understanding of parking problems is superficial, addressing issues on a case-by-case basis without grasping the root causes. This leads to policies that lack public approval and fail to achieve their initial goals.
I believe there are two fundamental issues the parking industry must address:
1. On-street Parking: Implement a comprehensive temporary parking system with continuous enforcement.
1) Temporary parking system: Each parking session should not exceed a few hours.
We've learned so much from other countries, but we haven't grasped the fundamentals: Tokyo's time limits are 20, 40, and 60 minutes; New York's are 1 and 2 hours, with residents allowed free overnight parking (12 hours) on designated streets with permits; Hong Kong has 15-minute, 30-minute, 1-hour, and 2-hour limits.
Why limit parking time? First, the primary function of on-street parking spaces is to serve traffic; allowing 24/7 parking defeats this purpose. Second, roads are public resources. Long-term occupancy by a single individual essentially privatizes the space, violating the principle of fairness. A temporary parking system is necessary to give more drivers access to on-street parking.
Cities abroad have a common rule: on-street parking is for temporary use only. Long-term parking (exceeding the time limit) must be in off-street parking facilities. Overtime parking is illegal, similar to illegal parking outside designated areas in China.
2) A time-limited parking system requires continuous enforcement; otherwise, it's meaningless. Many may think continuous enforcement is impossible, but stringent drunk driving enforcement is a reality, so is overtime parking enforcement. It all depends on the traffic police's determination. If enforcement only happens after a tragic accident, resulting in casualties, I have nothing to say; let the urban traffic chaos continue, affecting the city's vitality and overall operational costs.
3) "Temporary" is a crucial attribute of on-street parking spaces. No city in China has implemented a temporary parking system. It's safe to say that Chinese cities have been making mistakes in on-street parking management.
Regarding on-street parking management, our experience from abroad is only superficial, focusing on a single aspect: using charging as the sole management tool. This contradicts the temporary nature of on-street parking and easily provokes public opposition.
Because of the sole reliance on charging for on-street parking, many raise concerns about liability. Those who believe on-street parking spaces have custodial responsibilities subconsciously treat them as parking lots, which is incorrect. However, our authorities haven't effectively communicated the correct information to the public: on-street parking spaces are not parking lots; they are for temporary use, a measure to maximize road space utilization. They are, in essence, roads, and therefore, there's no custodial responsibility. For custodial parking, one must use off-street parking facilities. Whether off-street parking facilities have custodial responsibility is another matter.
4) In short, on-street parking management should emphasize government leadership, as it's a crucial aspect of urban traffic management.
2. Off-street Parking: Deregulate pricing for all off-street parking facilities, allowing operators to set prices based on market demand. This will significantly increase parking space supply.
With strict enforcement of on-street parking regulations, vehicles requiring long-term parking will inevitably seek off-street parking. The supply of off-street parking spaces is currently a major problem.
How to quickly increase parking space supply? Tax breaks, land concessions, supporting businesses, price deregulation, even cash subsidies—government departments have tried many measures, but with limited success. Why?
Because these measures target dedicated parking garages, which account for what percentage of the city's total parking spaces? 1%? 3%? It's unlikely to exceed 5%.
Even if these parking garages can set their own prices, who would park there? With price-controlled parking lots nearby, would people choose significantly more expensive garages? High prices and low demand; these garages are unlikely to recoup their investment costs.
Some cities stipulate in their regulations that investors reap the benefits, but this only applies to professional parking garages. Aren't the parking lots in commercial complexes also privately invested? Why don't they enjoy the same policy? (In 50% of China's provinces and cities, office buildings and commercial parking lots are subject to government-guided or fixed prices, despite the original State Planning Commission's 2000 decree that such parking lots should be subject to market regulation). Isn't this contradictory?
In a city, pre-built parking spaces can account for 80%, even higher in emerging cities. Only by freeing up the pricing of these pre-built parking spaces can we truly revitalize the parking industry, attract more private capital to build parking facilities, and increase parking space supply.
I believe off-street parking is a typical commercial service industry, and off-street parking should emphasize market economics. Parking lots are scattered micro-economies across the city. If the government invests, builds, and manages them, I dare say, no matter how much effort is put in, it won't be enough. In fact, the wisdom of the people is completely trustworthy. Private parking lot operators understand parking lot management better than our government departments. If price controls are lifted, they will find ways to acquire land for parking lots and use more scientific methods to achieve better parking space utilization. Staggered parking doesn't require government intervention; maximizing parking space utilization and revenue is already the operators' goal, and there won't be any misuse of parking lots.
Another point: developers set their own prices when selling parking spaces but are subject to price controls when renting them out. The same parking space has two different attributes when sold and rented, no wonder developers only sell and not rent; any developer would do the same.
People are profit-driven, and that's not inherently bad. Reasonable policies should guide businesses to create more parking spaces through legitimate operations.
3. In Japan, the US, Europe, Singapore, and any other city with on-street parking management, both points mentioned above are present. If we fail to address these fundamental issues, no matter how many parking management measures we learn from abroad, they will be useless, and the parking industry will remain chaotic.
Without a temporary parking system for on-street parking, focusing only on charging will invite public criticism and contradict the nature of on-street parking spaces. As people become less price-sensitive, vehicles will continue to flood the roads, severely impacting traffic.
Without fully deregulating off-street parking prices, no one will build new parking facilities. Not only will parking space supply fail to increase, existing parking lots will continue to be misused, and internal parking lots will be reluctant to accommodate external vehicles.
This is the root cause of the current chaos in the parking industry.
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