A tribute to ‘parking guru’ and our dear senior editor Donald Shoup

We are deeply saddened by the recent passing of Donald Shoup, our senior editor and a visionary intellectual whose work reshaped the way we think about parking and cities.

A distinguished research professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Don dedicated his career to understanding the crucial link between parking policy, transportation, and land use. His groundbreaking book, The High Cost of Free Parking, changed how cities around the world approach parking, inspiring policies that promote economic vitality, sustainability, and better urban design.

Don played an integral role in Transfers Magazine from its very first issue. He had a keen eye for academic research, often encouraging scholars to distill their work into engaging, policy-relevant articles. “Shortening an article you have already written is far easier than writing the original,” he would write in emails. Plus, he knew that publication in Transfers could amplify important research, bringing it to a broader, policy-focused audience. 

And let’s be honest — receiving an email from the esteemed Donald Shoup himself praising your work was probably the best nudge an author needed.

In Memoriam: Donald Shoup, Renowned UCLA Urban Planner and Parking Reform Pioneer

Legendary Luskin professor, parking ‘guru’ and global figure in transportation and land use planning sparked a dedicated following of enthusiasts known as ‘Shoupistas’

By Stan Paul

Donald Shoup, distinguished professor emeritus of urban planning, whose decades of teaching and scholarship at UCLA greatly influenced the field of land-use planning as well as generations of scholars, students and urban planners, died following a short illness on February 6, 2025, in Los Angeles. He was 86.

Shoup, a titan in the field of urban planning and specifically parking reform, is renowned for his pathbreaking research into how cities manage, or mismanage, parking spaces. This work, which demonstrated that seemingly mundane provisions in zoning codes had rendered many places overly dependent on driving, brought him academic accolades and made him an unlikely hero for a generation of urbanists determined to repair American cities. 

Among planners, government officials and activists, he became known as “UCLA’s parking guru,” a “parking rock star” and the “Shoup Dogg.” A Facebook group, thousands strong, sprung up organically to help spread his message. He even found his way into pop culture, as the subject of a YouTube animated feature on the television show “Adam Ruins Everything.”

Image: Max Himmelrich / Daily Bruin