Practicum: Metropolitan Planning Council Parking Demand Management Project

Manage demand for parking spots with smart economics.

Circling the block for parking is annoying for drivers, bad for the environment, and costly to local businesses that miss out on sales when drivers zoom off in exasperation. Through the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s Local Technical Assistance program, the Metropolitan Planning Council is working with the Wicker Park/Bucktown Chamber to analyze how variable priced parking, which means pricing parking differently at different times of day or day of the week based on demand, can achieve just the right number of available parking spots and to determine if additional revenue capacity exists that as a result could spur more investment in transit improvements or enhancements to the pedestrian environment in commercial corridors.