Review of The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup

Abstract

Review of Shoup, Donald C. (2005). The High Cost of Free Parking. APA Planners Press, Chicago 733 pp. $59.95 When Donald Shoup buys or borrows a new book (and he must do this a lot), you can just see him running to the index, look up the word “parking”, and then make note of the relevant sentences, since every time the word “parking” has ever appeared in some other book, it seems, it is cited in this 733 page tome. Parking is a critical linkage between transportation and land use, and deserves more attention than it has historically received. This book, with its concomitant media coverage, has drawn focus to the topic. The ideas contained within are familiar to those who have read many of Shoup’s academic articles on the topic. His critique of the ITE Parking Generation (and Trip Generation) rates is classic, and should be noted by any planner who seeks “appeal to authority” as a justification for their actions or beliefs.