Traffic jams are an inconvenient reality of urban life. But one of the culprits of this congestion is something all drivers revel in: free parking.

If people know they can park for free, why wouldn’t they opt to drive? As drivers cruise around looking for spots to park, they crowd the roads. Much of the traffic clutter we experience, particularly in downtown sectors, is simply from other drivers figuring out where to put their cars.

One way of alleviating traffic clutter is not letting people park for free.

The International Energy Agency forecasted the number of vehicles on the road worldwide would double between 2012 and 2035 to 1.7 billion. That’s a lot of vehicles that need to go somewhere when they’re not being used. And they’ll probably be unused most of the time.

As the number of cars on the road increases, so do parking minimum requirements. 

A “parking minimum” is the amount of parking spaces businesses must provide for their customers. Cities with parking requirements try to set the minimum to satisfy the demand for free parking, and that includes during peak times. The issue parking minimums create is that they increase the supply beyond the market demand.

The more free parking available the more drivers will be out seeking it – and the more traffic clutter they will create. This is the case with underpriced street parking as well.

As the sharing economy continues to expand, the resulting impacts become more pervasive in society. From experience within the industry it’s clear that ride and park sharing can help alleviate the traffic jams exacerbated by free parking.

Ride-sharing options like Lyft and Uber are obvious solutions to traffic caused by parking because the cars are always in use. The driver is transporting people to and from destinations, and those riders aren’t contributing to the clutter of traffic because they’re simply passengers.

The park-sharing industry has also tapped into the deeper issue of excess space created by parking minimums. Options like long-term parking rentals make use of the unoccupied parking spaces by renting them out. Those who’d typically be seeking parking on a daily basis then have a consistent spot and don’t spend time clogging the nearby streets.

Even with many in urban locales opting to eschew vehicle ownership, traffic jams aren’t going away just yet. But the amount of traffic caused simply by people looking for free parking can be reduced through the growing sharing economy.