Mexico City: from parking minimums to maximums, and meters that pay for footpaths

Benchmark note · Parking policy

The problem Mexico City measured first

Before reforming, the city and ITDP gathered evidence:

• A 2013 analysis of more than 250 large real-estate projects built between 2009 and 2013 found over 250,000 parking spaces had been built.
• A 2014 report found more than 40% of floor area in Mexico City buildings was dedicated to parking.

The reform (2017)

In July 2017 the construction code was changed so that parking minimums became maximums. A trust fund was proposed to collect fees for each space built above the maximum, up to an absolute ceiling. ITDP estimated the reform would keep 11,000 to 17,000 private cars a year off the roads between 2017 and 2030.

ecoParq: on-street parking that pays the street

In 2012 the ecoParq pilot began in Polanco with 426 meters regulating 6,000 kerbside spaces that had previously been free. Fees were reinvested in footpaths and pedestrian improvements in the same neighbourhood. Nearby neighbourhoods later asked for the programme to expand.

Why this matters for India

Mexico City's sequence is worth copying: measure how much land and floor area parking takes, publish it, then reform. Indian cities have the same mix of free kerbside parking and high minimums, and similar debates about paid parking. Linking meter revenue to visible local improvements is the part most often missing in Indian proposals.

Sources

• ITDP: How Mexico City became a leader in parking reform
• Streetsblog: It's official, Mexico City eliminates mandatory parking minimums

About this note: desk research by the WA Foundation research desk, using the published sources listed above. Figures are reported as given by those sources. This is not original fieldwork and has not been externally peer reviewed. Free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 with credit to WA Foundation.