Curb Pricing Could Offer Big Benefits

Cities are giving away a lot of free space. "Worth billions but given away for free, the curb is arguably the single most misused asset in the American city—and one that, more than any giant investment in apps, sensors, or screens, can determine the future of transportation," Henry Grabar writes in Slate.

Still curb pricing is a foreign concept to many with control over the costs of parking. "Few mayors could even tell you how much curb space a city has or what it’s worth, though they do seem to recognize that a free parking pass can function as a powerful, Tammany Hall–style perk for favored groups," Grabar writes.

Free on-street parking incentivizes driving and causes congestion, Grabar contends, and there's a lot of other work that space could be doing. "It can also provide desperately needed commercial space on high-rent streets, as fleets of food trucks demonstrate in cities like Washington. Or it can be repurposed to absorb and slow stormwater in flood-prone areas," according to Grabar.