FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2, 2023

Tony Jordan
(971) 207-1348
[email protected]

Austin City Council Votes to End Parking Mandates

Council voted 8 to 2 in favor; land developers no longer required to devote a minimum amount of space for off-street parking; change goes into effect in ten working days.

AUSTIN – By a vote of 8 to 2, the city council has abolished off-street parking mandates. The Parking Reform Network congratulates the people of Austin for their hard work in bringing about this change. This is due in no small part to the years of advocacy spearheaded by organizations like the Austin Parking Reform Coalition. 

The result of the council vote doesn’t ban new parking spaces from being built or call for the removal of existing parking. But it does remove a significant barrier to sustainable and equitable land use. The new change goes into effect in ten working days.

“By embracing this change, Austin is now at the forefront of fostering compact, eco-friendly development, reducing costs, making homes more obtainable and commercial districts more vibrant and walkable,” said Mateo Barnstone, Director, at CNU-CTX. “Over time, this will incentivize the shift to alternative transportation options and transform parking areas into green spaces, housing, space for local businesses, and other community amenities, creating a better and more accessible city for all its residents.”

Costly parking mandates often result in homes and businesses having much more parking than what is actually needed. Excess parking supply cost more to build, maintain, and those costs get passed on to residents as higher living expenses. When a community no longer has to set aside a specific amount of land purely for car storage, there will be more room and more money for housing, public transportation, and green spaces.

Austin is currently the largest city in the United States to remove parking mandates, passing San Jose, Calif., which eliminated mandates last December. Both cities join more than 50 others across North America that have made this change, including Richmond, Va.; Salem, Ore.; Anchorage, Alaska; and Toronto, Ontario.

The Parking Reform Network (parkingreform.org) is a nonprofit organization working to advance parking reforms internationally. Founded in 2019, the network’s mission is to educate the public about the impact of parking policy on climate change, equity, housing, and traffic.

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