{"id":25092,"date":"2017-04-05T12:54:24","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145710.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=25092"},"modified":"2017-04-05T12:54:24","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T12:54:24","slug":"paying-employees-not-drive-washington-dc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikocity.com\/paying-employees-not-drive-washington-dc\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying Employees To Not Drive In Washington, DC"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>Donald Shoup<\/a> pointed out many years ago that if companies pay\u00a0the costs of parking for their employees, a common fringe benefit (and an expensive one, at that), those employers are essentially giving \u201can invitation to drive to work alone.\u201d<\/p>\n Shoup continues to explain that it is time to level the playing field\u00a0and has been\u00a0promoting a policy called \u201cparking cash out\u201d for over a decade. The\u00a0good news is a new DC bill titled “Transportation Benefits Equity Act<\/a>”\u00a0includes just this, as The Washington Post<\/em><\/a> reports.<\/p>\n In a 2005 report for the American Planning Association [PDF<\/a>],\u00a0Shoup explains: “Free parking thus helps explain why 91 percent of commuters drive to work and why 93 percent of their vehicles have only one occupant.”<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n <\/a>Washington, DC, councilmembers Charles Allen, Mary Cheh, and Brianne Nadeau\u00a0introduced the new bill\u00a0to try to stimulate\u00a0healthier urban choices and reward those who make such choices, which benefit broader society.<\/p>\n The Wash Cycle<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>reports that the bill they introduced will “pay a lot of DC workers to bike<\/a> or walk<\/a>\u00a0to work,” which “would make commuter benefits fairer, but more importantly, smarter in that they would reduce pollution and congestion; improve land use and health; and make roads safer.”<\/p>\n The Washington Post<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>focuses on the issue at the heart — fairness of choice.\u00a0\u201cI can much more easily rationalize hopping in my car and driving downtown when I got a free parking spot,\u201d said Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), a lead sponsor of the bill. \u201cBut if my employer says, we are going to give you a parking spot or we can give you transit benefits or cash if you bike to work, then I have the flexibility to make the choice that is best for me.\u201d The change, he said, would address a fairness issue for the workers who sometimes turn down a valuable perk because they don\u2019t drive.<\/p>\n Along with this, perhaps it is time to introduce a bill that requires all\u00a0parking\u00a0lots<\/a> to be covered by\u00a0solar panels<\/a>.<\/p>\n Images via Parking Cash Out [PDF]<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Related Stories:<\/p>\n Free Parking Keeps People In Their Cars<\/a><\/p>\n $9,641 = Annual Savings Taking Public Transportation In USA<\/a><\/p>\n Smart Growth Study Finds Cities Suburbs Require Too Much Parking Near Transit Stations<\/a><\/p>\n