Citywide parking policy and traffic: Evidence from Amsterdam

Abstract

We examine the effect of citywide parking policy on parking and traffic demand. Using a large increase in on-street parking prices for the city of Amsterdam, we show that the policy caused a substantial drop in on-street parking demand, which is not offset by an increase in off-street demand. The overall reduction in parking demand implies a 2% – 3% reduction in traffic, which is confirmed with traffic flow data. The decline in traffic is larger during the evening peak, which indicates that parking prices are effective in reducing congestion in the evening peak but less so in the morning peak.