Urban metered curb parking as a factor in retail sales: An econometric case study for Chicago, Illinois.

摘要

The present study explores the bi-directional nature of the relationship between metered street parking and retail sales. It takes advantage of data on both deliberate and involuntary expansions and contractions of the number of parking meters that the City of Chicago experiences from year to year; the effect of these fluctuations on retail sales in the relevant areas will be for the first time empirically tested in this paper.; Strong support for metered street parking comes primarily from retail store owners who claim that sales are positively affected by meter installations about their places of business. Studies of retail store shoppers seem to embrace this position.; Opponents of metered street parking maintain that meters do relatively little to promote turnover, that they yield negligible revenues to the City and that the associated costs of street parking including reduced traffic flows, outweigh the benefits of enhanced sales, if any, to the retail sector.; Empirical 2SLS results are consistent with the hypothesis that metered street parking bears no significant effect on retail sales. OLS estimates, however, suggest a weak positive effect. These results, respectively, bolster and hinder support for what many city planners and the like consider the highest and best use of the curb lane, namely, traffic flow.