Formulation and implementation of a pricing policy for municipal parking

The efficient allocation of a municipally-owned resource, like automobile parking space, requires a long-term policy that recognizes the social, technical, economic and political realities of the system. This paper develops such a policy, and reviews the progress in implementing it in a medium size city over a 3 yr period. An analysis of the interim results finds a significant increase in revenue to the City, some progress toward a socially desirable allocation of space and evidence that further progress is continuing.Much of the success in implementing the recommended policy was attributed to the small number of links in the chain of decision-makers and to having essentially the same group of people involved with the project over an extended period of time. With an understandable, well-developed and logical policy to follow, rational decisionmaking could proceed in small steps, thereby building consensus by reducing uncertainty about the ultimate impact of the recommended course of action. This type of policy formulation and implementation is analogous to programmed learning.