Too Many Cars, Not Enough Space

I live in a house of 12 girls, 9 of which have cars. Yet, we only have 6 total parking spaces. So, we always need to have at least 3 street spots. That sounds easy enough until you realize we live on Chancellor St., which is packed with cars bumper to bumper day in and day out. We have found that the only way to maintain parking spots for everyone is for everyone to prioritize street parking; you see a spot, you take it. As a house, we came to this collective agreement to prioritize street spots. But as course loads pick up and schedules get busier, certain people have decided to neglect the agreement. They get home and immediately park in a parking spot.

If too many people neglect the agreement, the free rider problem arises and we end up with too many cars and not enough spots. Currently, the only reasons to park on the street are altruism (doing it so your housemates won’t get home without a spot) or the negative incentive of the possibility of you being the one left without a spot. Thus, I am proposing a new system tonight at our house meeting. We have a jar in our foyer. If you park in a parking space, you have to put a dollar in the jar. But if you park on the street, you get to take a dollar from the jar. This imposes a negative incentive to parking in a space and a positive one to parking on the street. I am hopeful this will help our problem of free riding but doubtful I will actually get all 12 girls to agree to this collective agreement.