Urban Planning graduate Andrea Osgood (MA UP ’07), has been awarded the 2007 Council of University Transportation Center Neville A. Parker Award for her project titled, “Curb Dreams: Allocating On-Street Parking for Carsharing. An Analysis of Local Government Agencies’ Options for Encouraging Carsharing Use Through On-Street Parking Programs.” The Parker Award, given by the Council of University Transportation Centers (CUTC), is presented annually for the two best non-thesis papers/projects in transportation submitted for the M.S. degree in lieu of a M.S. thesis. Osgood’s project won the policy and planning category. Previous winners of the award from the UCLA School of Public Affairs include Steve Crosley (MA UP ’06), Camille Fink (MA UP ’04), and Heather Burton (MA UP ’03). Osgood’s award, including a cash award of $1,500, will be presented this month at the annual CUTC Awards Banquet in Washington, D.C. The following is an abstract of Osgood’s winning project: (Read Report) Due to the ability of carsharing to address a variety of tough urban problems — from traffic congestion and pollution to global warming and mobility hurdles in low-income populations — policy makers have been eager to find ways support and encourage its growth, such as provide parking spaces on public streets for the exclusive use of carsharing vehicles. However, dedicating sections of streets for specific users limits the public’s access to this formerly non-restricted resource and is susceptible to accusations of unjust privatization. Is on-street carsharing parking an effective use of use of local resources? And, if so, how can policy makers deal with the privatization concerns? This report draws on an analysis of the literature and modelling of individual travel costs to argue that on-street parking is more effective than other forms of support, such as direct financial grants or off-street spaces, due to the extra time savings, visibility and convenience benefits associated with on-street spaces. Given these findings, this report presents a series of policy recommendations to help governments create their own on-street programs. Drawing from case studies of similar programs in six North American cities, detailed recommendations are provided on a wide range of components, such as legislative structure, fees, signage and demarcation of spaces. In addition to these practical details, the report also concludes that any on-street policy must include a mechanism to both verify and ensure the social benefits of carsharing — particularly if the jurisdiction does do not want to charge a market-based fee for these spaces. Even if governments strike the right balance between social benefits and opportunity costs, some citizens will still oppose losing access to these parking spaces. However, carsharing’s benefits to society are proven and supportive policies such as an on-street program will help create more sustainable communities.