Who pays for "free" parking

We all pay the hidden cost of free parking. Today's Post has a good Opinion piece entitled Why should my bike subsidize your car? by Dillon Klepetar:

The upscale grocery store near my home in Tenleytown is a popular spot for foodies. Most of these “diehard” environmentalists roll up in their cars because the store has made it quite convenient to do so. I choose not to drive, and I don’t fault those who do — as they’re paying for their choices. But at this grocery store, and many others across the nation, drivers do not bear the true economic costs of their choices, let alone the environmental ones. Instead, the supermarket takes the cost of providing the parking and, since we all pay the same prices for grocery items, redistributes it among everyone who shops there. In effect, cyclists, walkers and those who take public transit subsidize the parking of those who don’t.

We not only pay for free parking but we also subsidize most roads, since user fees such as gas taxes and registration fees pay only about half the cost to build roads. The other hidden costs of driving such as air and water pollution and all the negative health impacts are also paid by society as a whole.

See The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup for more on this topic. For a list of the many hidden costs of driving and how to calculate them see The True Cost of Driving.