The high cost of cheap permit parking in Amsterdam

Abstract

Amsterdammers voted for an autoluw ("nearly car free") city in 1992. Thirty years later, hourly parking tariffs are the highest in the country, but more cars than ever park on the streets. We explore this promise-results gap by comparing the market price of housing to bureaucratic prices for hourly parking (for visitors) and permit parking (for residents), across the city’s districts. We find that permits are under-priced throughout the city and that hourly parking is too cheap in Am- sterdam Noord. The city’s costly efforts to compensate for cheap parking do not serve most citizens.

Keywords: parking, public spaces, opportunity cost, urban congestion

JEL Classification: R41, R42, R48, R52, H23, H44, H71, D61