GLOSSARY

Transportation Network Company (TNC)

A transportation network company (TNC) is a business that uses an app to connect riders with drivers, usually using their own vehicles. Uber and Lyft are the best-known examples; the term comes from state regulation, which began in California.

WHERE A RIDE-HAIL TRIP TOUCHES PARKINGRequestapp matches a driverPick-upcurb, not a stallDrop-offcurb or loadingDeadheadwait, cruise, stageWhat changes for the parking ownerLesslong-term stall demand at airports, venues, nightlifeMorecurb and loading demand, often at the same hoursNewstaging lots and fees for waiting drivers
Ride-hail trips replace some parked cars with curb visits. The demand does not disappear; it moves from the stall to the curb, where it needs zones, rules and sometimes a price.

TNCs changed parking in two ways at once. They replaced some trips that would otherwise have ended in a parking space, especially to airports, events and nightlife, and they moved that activity to the curb, where pickups and drop-offs now compete with deliveries, buses and through traffic. See curb management.

Effects on parking

  • Lower parking demand for some trip types, notably airports, where parking has long been a major non-airline revenue source.
  • New pressure on curbs, which many cities and airports now manage with designated zones and fees.
  • Short, frequent stops that standard parking pricing does not capture.
  • Growing demand for driver staging and, with robotaxis, for depots. See fleet staging.

Responses

  • Curb pricing and pickup zones. See mobility court.
  • Airport access fees per TNC trip.
  • Reallocating surplus parking to other uses. See adaptive reuse.

The Parkonomics view

Ride-hail did not end parking; it moved part of it to the curb, where it was free. The places that adapted best started charging for the curb as carefully as they price a garage.

Related terms: Curb Management, Mobility Court, Robotaxi, Fleet Staging, Ride-Sharing or Ride-Hailing, Congestion Pricing