Curb parking is notoriously difficult to find in certain parts of New York City (NYC). NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) is considering implementing demand-responsive pricing for its passenger metered spaces to manage parking demand. This is a pricing mechanism whereby the price of curb parking fluctuates spatially and temporally in accordance with expected or actual demand. This report assesses successful permanent citywide implementations of demand-responsive curb pricing in San Francisco and Seattle to determine the most effective strategies for NYC DOT: these include using meter transaction data and historical occupancy data to estimate current parking occupancy and exploring possibilities of vehicle-mounted license plate recognition technology. To help make demand-responsive pricing more efficient and politically acceptable, the city can implement additional policies such a two-tier system for disability placards to target placard abuse or parking benefit districts to direct meter revenue toward public services on metered blocks. A data-driven demand-responsive curb pricing program that follows a set model for rate adjustments, in conjunction with technology and legislation changes to increase support for the program and reduce parking violations, as described in this report, can effectively increase parking availability in New York City and guide other city transportation agencies in their efforts to do the same.

Economists tend to favour price-based approaches, such as gasoline and carbon taxes, to address the negative impacts of car travel, while urban planners tend to emphasise land use planning such as compact development. In this paper, we argue that the two approaches are synergistic. We use precinct-level data from two California referenda to show that land use planning makes pricing more feasible: voters in dense, transit-oriented neighbourhoods are more willing to support a carbon price and increased gasoline taxes. Political ideology is a more important determinant of voting patterns, but in a closely divided election, land use patterns, public transportation, and other aspects of the built environment can determine the success of a referendum on driving taxes. Our results also imply that the voluminous research on land use and transportation underestimates the long-run impacts of compact development on driving, through ignoring the ways in which urban form shapes the politics of taxation.

We examine the barrier effects of freeways in California. We analyze the association between freeways and nearby street network connectivity and quantify the frequency and quality of crossings—underpasses or bridges that enable pedestrians and cyclists to cross the freeway. We find that barrier effects are most pronounced in communities of color. We also find that even where crossings exist, they are unpleasant or even hazardous for pedestrians and cyclists because of high-speed traffic on on- and off-ramps, and because large volumes of traffic are funneled through a small number of crossings rather than being distributed over a wider network.

We examine the barrier effects of freeways in California. We analyze the association between freeways and three measures of nearby street connectivity: the composite Street Network Disconnectedness index (SNDi), circuity, and the distance between crossings – underpasses or bridges that enable people to cross the freeway. We also assess the quality of a sample of these crossings for pedestrians and cyclists. We find that barrier effects are most pronounced in communities of color. We also find that even where crossings exist, they are unpleasant or even hazardous for pedestrians and cyclists because of high-speed traffic on on- and off-ramps, and because large volumes of traffic are funneled through a small number of crossings rather than being distributed over a wider network.