Really good points about the high opportunity costs from devoting precious street space to urban parking instead of other uses

 Matt Elliott writes weekly in the Toronto Star about city urbanism issues.  The current column, "Toronto parking fines may shortly skyrocket. This is why we should embrace the cost," is about how the city is considering significantly increasing the fines for parking illegally, which he supports.  He goes on to suggest a bunch of different ways to use the space:

But taking the amount even higher is justified too, because we’re not just talking about parking here. We’re talking about how we allocate — and value — our limited public space. 

Over the last few years, Toronto has been late to the party in discovering that there are better things we can do with our streets than providing car storage. 

The CaféTO program that was established during the pandemic and then made permanent, for example, saw about 2,400 parking spaces converted to allow for restaurant patios during the 2022 season. As parking spaces, the Toronto Parking Authority reported, they would have generated about $2.7 million in parking revenue, or about $1,125 a space. As patios, they generated restaurant sales of about $180 million, or $75,000 a space. 

 Parklet at Izzy's Steakhouse in San Francisco.  Photo: Audrey Kuhn, Eater SF

Meanwhile, along King Street, removing about 180 on-street parking spaces allowed for a transit corridor that shortened average travel times by five minutes and increased ridership by nearly 17 per cent. (The benefits were later blunted by lax enforcement, but an improved traffic agent program has helped bring them back.) 

The King Street Pilot Project converted sections of the curb lane into patios with furniture and planters

And in an increasing number of well-documented examples across the city, swapping parking for dedicated bike lanes has led to more cyclists, safer cycling and no measurable negative impact on businesses. 

And let’s not forget that devoting two lanes of a four-lane road to parking for large chunks of the day is usually not a great trade-off for most drivers either. I heard from a reader who lives along Queen West recently who was delighted by the city recently reducing the hours where on-street parking is permitted on the street in response to nearby construction. It’s a temporary measure, but residents have noticed traffic is flowing better.

... But still, the overwhelming conclusion from recent history should be that on-street parking comes with a massive trade-off. Without parking, we can use our streets for other things, like patios, bike lanes, wider sidewalks, and making more room for transit and traffic to move. 

 Toronto sidewalks come in a variety of sizes. Pictured: 1781 Danforth Ave. in the city's east end, has a sidewalk 5 metres wide. Photo: Dave LeBlanc. "How Wide is Your Sidewalk?," Toronto Globe and Mail

That’s not to say there’s no place for parking at all, but the price of parking — and especially the penalty for not paying that price — should account for that trade-off.

Also see "Wider sidewalks and fewer cars: Why Toronto’s plan for Yonge Street is the future of cities," Toronto Globe and Mail.