Here in Japan, virtually ALL parking in lots is hourly metered. You get a ticket & if you spend money in the stores, they will credit you the price of the parking (making it cheap or free for actual paying customers) on the ticket. This is actually done for reasons of space - cities are crowded & and space for parking is at a premium. The result is that it is just considered normal.
In the US, they have these massive lots that are spread out over an area often larger than the store itself. The obvious thing to do would charge for parking with the Japanese system, and use the proceeds to help offset the initial costs, just like with a toll highway or bridge.
However, the "God-given Right to Free Parking" mentality would never allow it to work, and the local governments are too weak to try to impose it. Every city has a ring of malls outside of it not just for cheaper land, but to escape any form of regulations from the city itself. This is a "risky thing", and businesses don't like risk.
It would take a very careful marketing campaign to be able to kickstart something like this. I doubt many places have the leadership required.
> However, the "God-given Right to Free Parking" mentality would never allow it to work
Um, most cities in the US have metered parking, too.
It's only when you reach the suburbs that parking changes to free. And that's because, with prevalent car ownership, having to pay for parking will decimate a store's customer base.
The lots are privately owned by the malls, shopping centers, or stores. The "city" is in no position to impose paid parking on private property. Where parking is scarce, private parking is generally not free. Where parking is provided on public property (e.g. city streets) it is often metered, though certainly not always.
While they can't directly tell a mall "you have to charge", they can encourage it indirectly through zoning laws:
For example, they can cap the footprint of parking lot space, leading to stores building parking garages or taking their own steps to minimize freeloaders through metering. That's just an off the top of my head example.
Never say the govt "can't do something". The have power of eminent domain, as an example of how far they are able to go when the actual will is there to have something they want. Check out the history of the new Fenway Park for things they can do.
Rather than a cap, many suburbs have a minimum parking space requirement for stores. Suburbs have been using zoning laws to encourage a car based economy. In the Chicago suburb which I used to live, you could not walk the one mile to Target even if you wanted to for lack of sidewalks, crosswalks, etc.
Just because something supports commerce doesn't mean it should be free. My city (Mountain View, CA) has outlawed plastic bags and requires stores to charge for paper bags...commerce supports that were "free" to the consumer in the past. Yet, for some reason, the city provides TONS of free parking in municipal lots.
Car owners kind of already pay for infrastructure for their vehicles through excise tax, gas tax, and tolls (not really, but at least its something). Why not charge for parking too?
> with the Japanese system, use the proceeds to help offset the initial costs, just like with a toll highway or bridge.
The U.S. system isn't free. The cost is embedded in the goods/services you buy. The Japanese system just removes the freeloaders, because parking is so abundant in most of the U.S., we don't really have that problem.
Although, I have found myself parking in weird places to avoid the valets. Valets now seem like some requirement everywhere I go, in my city at least. I feel like it's actually a disservice in most instances so I try to revolt when I can.
You only see that in densely-packed areas, though. I also live in Japan, and have spent a very large amount of time out in Saitama[1], where for the most part, parking is free as well.
Where I live, parking works as you describe.
[1] The prefecture next to Tokyo, for those that aren't deeply immersed in Japanese geography.
"The obvious thing to do would charge for parking with the Japanese system, and use the proceeds to help offset the initial costs, just like with a toll highway or bridge"
So, why would I pay for the cost of something that makes money for the parking owner again?
In the US, they have these massive lots that are spread out over an area often larger than the store itself. The obvious thing to do would charge for parking with the Japanese system, and use the proceeds to help offset the initial costs, just like with a toll highway or bridge.
However, the "God-given Right to Free Parking" mentality would never allow it to work, and the local governments are too weak to try to impose it. Every city has a ring of malls outside of it not just for cheaper land, but to escape any form of regulations from the city itself. This is a "risky thing", and businesses don't like risk.
It would take a very careful marketing campaign to be able to kickstart something like this. I doubt many places have the leadership required.