> parking is perhaps the greatest determinant of whether people decide to make a trip in a car or by some other means
Surely that can't be true in general - I would think the quality/convenience/cost of the alternative would be by far the biggest factor (but yes, you could argue that's rolling multiple factors into one).
But as an example, plenty of offices I've worked at over the years have offered free or cheap parking to all staff, with sufficient space for virtually everyone, yet less than half of the staff chose to drive simply because getting there by car was slower/more expensive than the alternatives (typically train or tram, and a few, like myself, that much prefer our pushbikes!). Actually at my current job in a CBD/downtown building, nobody drives despite the high availability of parking, but it is quite expensive to use (~$18 a day I believe).
> I would think the quality/convenience/cost of the alternative would be by far the biggest factor
The alternatives almost never beat a car in quality, convenience, and cost (minus parking costs, which is the point). The exceptions are very specific cases, like inter-Manhattan travel at certain times of the day, for example, where $2.75 can get you most places faster than your own car and cheaper than a cab.
I suppose what I meant is if the quality/convenience/cost of the alternatives are good enough, many people will choose not to use a car, e.g. to avoid the stress of peak-hour traffic or because they believe it's a more productive use of time (even if it technically takes longer door-to-door), or better for the environment or whatever. And there can be real $ savings if this choice means a household then only needs 1 vs 2 cars.
Surely that can't be true in general - I would think the quality/convenience/cost of the alternative would be by far the biggest factor (but yes, you could argue that's rolling multiple factors into one).
But as an example, plenty of offices I've worked at over the years have offered free or cheap parking to all staff, with sufficient space for virtually everyone, yet less than half of the staff chose to drive simply because getting there by car was slower/more expensive than the alternatives (typically train or tram, and a few, like myself, that much prefer our pushbikes!). Actually at my current job in a CBD/downtown building, nobody drives despite the high availability of parking, but it is quite expensive to use (~$18 a day I believe).