Whoops, there went March. In my defense, it didn't seem like much interesting happened. There was the daylight saving change... Then there was that penny I saw on the sidewalk the other day. But behold, at the final minute, interesting news!

Professor Donald Shoup of UCLA writes in the NY Times that more than a quarter of traffic congestion is caused by people trying to park, and those people are trying to park on the street because parking meters are too cheap. It's one of those theories you want to hate. But I fear it makes perfect sense. Or at least, it's completely true. We park at meters because they cost a quarter or two for 15 minutes. A garage costs $4 or more, because they automatically charge you a whole hour.

The Freakonomics people must be jealous...