April 16, 2008
Would Paying $25 a Month Stop You From Driving to Work?
The Examiner reports on a new bill before the D.C. Council that would levy a $25 per month tax on all private employee parking spaces. The legislation is the brainchild of Ward 1 Council member Jim Graham and At-large member Phil Mendelson, and is designed to discourage employees from driving in to work even though they have access to a parking space at their office.
It's an interesting idea in theory. Last week when we were discussing the U.S. House of Representatives' plan to install a bike sharing program for its members and staff, one of the discussions that popped up in the comments was that as long as congressional staffers have free parking, they will continue to drive to work even if they could get there relatively easily on public transportation. This Council bill is attempting to take away that incentive in the private sector, and at the same time, naturally, to create a new sales tax revenue source where there isn't one now.
Interestingly, the bill appears to allow property-owning businesses that give their employees free parking spaces to pass along the fees to the individual employees who use them. But the question is, would they? Most businesses that provide employee parking do so because they want to give their workers such perks, and because they may want their employees to have easy access to their vehicles for work-related reasons. We have a hard time seeing this legislation making much of an impact on traffic congestion if employers are able to simply choose to pick up the tab.
Photo by Samer Farha
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Can't tax Federal properties, so there's a big pile of change lost right there. How would this affect the nonprofits though? And I don't see Carr Properties sitting this one out. This stands to hit the Carr Parks the hardest.
So once again, soak the K Street law firms, multinationals, and small businesses. Nothing new here. What's left to tax? Smoking's been taxed, drinking's been taxed. Everything but....thingie. Yessss....thingie. It would certainly make chartered accountancy a much more interesting job.
Perhaps this is a dumb question, but do we know what would actually happen if every person (or at least a large chunk of them) suddenly stopped driving and started using public transpo? Would it overload the system? Isn't metro capacity based somewhat on the amount of people that drive?
I'd love to see less traffic, but is it even possible to accommodate everyone on metro?
The vast majority of parking spaces do not appear to be covered by this. It appears to cover only those spaces that are owned by the employer and provided to the employees for free. That's not very many. Few businesses in DC (particularly downtown DC) own the building they're in. Most rent the building and the parking is administered by PMI, etc. I guess the questions is whether this would cover the spaces that the business rents from PMI to give to their employees for free. My guess is that they already pay taxes on that, and by the terms of the proposal, they'd be exempt. From my experience, I don't think there are that many private business that rent spaces for their employees anyway.
Regardless, the real target would be the federal government which is the largest provider of free parking. Of course DC can't touch that.
Which is all a different question of whether $25 bucks would affect habits. I think it would on the margins, but not substantially.
Considering Metro is ALREADY at capacity, I don't see those tens of thousands of drivers hopping on the Orange and Red Lines any time soon.
Besides, just give the recession another 18 months and all those nasty companies downtown and their car-driving employees will be gone altogether. Problem solved.
I'd pay Jim Graham $25 a month to STFU.
Tax all parking spaces. Refund any tax paid by DC residents as an income tax credit. Instant commuter tax. (or don't refund, it would still hit out of state commuters -- who impact our roads and services most -- the hardest).
I think thats a great idea, but it would not work at all. Like people above me have said, Metro is already at capacity and during rush hour, buses are just horrible. Im all for converting driving commuters into riding commuters but the city needs to think about what all those people will be riding.
(I would also pay Jim Graham $25 a month to STFU)
Monkey: nice Python reference!
It's a good idea, if every cent of the $25 went to helping Metro suck less. Otherwise...I don't see them being able to handle more riders.
Anyone with an interest in this should read The High Cost of Free Parking.
I would pay more than $25 per month for Jim Graham to STFU.
DCist's "Ess Jim Graham the Eff Up Fund" is just the sort of bold initiative that will discourage legislators from floating feelgood legislation that has almost no impact on the actual problem.
I see very little that would discourage people from driving downtown. Jack up vehicle and parking taxes, fuel costs, throw more gridlock at the problem and they still come to DC. It's like Dillinger said: that's where the money is. And with much of the Nation's economy bobbing in the commode, and DC's history of being relatively recession-proof (or at least, recession-resistant), you're looking at even more drivers coming downtown over the next few years. We need a regional transit plan that gives people more options to getting to work. We need expanded bus and surface rail coverage in the inner suburbs. Put that tax revenue towards improving transit infrastructure, both on the collapsing bridges and the decaying rail lines.. We don't need DC/MD/VA getting into yet another pissing match as to who can gouge the others residents the most. This "brainchild" of Jim Graham's has hydrocephaly.
And tax the churches while you're at it.
Vote Monkeyrotica: Because the children are our future.
beyonddc: can you provide a URL, because your link ain't working.
well, here at NGS, we have a parking garage that there is a waiting list for. i'm certain that, if this were to become law, they'd be forced to pass the fee along to those driving here. there just isn't the money available for the company to suck up the cost.
Thats true. The majority of bad traffic is not actually within DC itself its between DC and the beltway. Monkey's dead right when he said the inner suburbs need more attention when it comes to mass transit.
Metro is not at capacity. Parts of metro are at times at capacity. No, we can't accommodate everyone on Metro. We can accommodate significantly more than we do on Metro rail and bus. If costs go up, more people will walk, bike, telecommute, carpool, etc...
I don't really think metro is at capacity. I ride the green line during rush hour every day and there's plenty of space.
However, i know that's not the case on the Red & Orange.
My employer gives $110 per month to use for Public Transportation and I burn it in less than a month coming from Van Dorn to Gallery Place.
So $25 will give you probably a week/week and a half if you take Metro for work. I'm not saying people shouldn't ride Metro (I don't have a car so I'm all about taking Metro), but an extra $25 won't cut it.
There are so many ways around this it's not funny. So with apologies to the Bard; this amounts to legislation proposed by two idiots, full of sound and fury that accomplishes nothing.
I can tell you that for most Federal contractors, parking is a big fat kick in the paycheck. When I did drive, my garage broke out the 10% tax on the bill. Apparently, that's not outrageous enough.
For you Marylanders, see if you can hop on a MTA Commuter bus. They are clean, comfy, and efficient. I spend half what I did on driving, and I get a nice nap.
Same trip on Metrobus/rail including driving to the Metro station: same price as driving all the way.
I would be interested in the Jim Graham STFU Fund, though...
It sounds good as long as they send every penny of the revenue to the metro system and public transportation funds. This would help metro handle any new riders and strain.
Really it seems if metro could become more efficient (ex. trains on time (with working doors and full 8 cars) and not breaking down, streamlining passenger loading and unloading, etc.) they wouldn't be as strained or at capacity.
Also the first priority after getting working trains and tracks for the metro should be building parking garages at their metro stops. I live in DC now but driving to the metro stop at 7:30-8:00Am and their being no parking is unacceptable. Even worse going to the next stop down the line and still no parking. Then getting a ticket for parking wherever you can because you have to get to work and there is no parking. Then paying $5 on top of the ticket to leave the stop and do it all over again the next day. And the funny part is they keep trying to get more people to park outside the city and metro in. WHERE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO PARK? Thanks for letting me rant, haven't had to deal with it for 8 months now but still bitter.
The problem with Metro is the same with the roads. Neither are ever completely at capacity, but you have area "choke points" that cause major backups that have rippling repercussions on the rest of the system. In the latter, there's the two-lane hellscape between Telegraph Road and the Wilson Bridge; on Metro, there's Crystal City and L'enfant Plaza. You want people to take mass transit? Fix the chokepoints. Otherwise, they'll continue to look at New Carrolton and Huntington Station parking lots at capacity at 7:30, say screw it, and just keep driving.
I get into this argument with Avent all the time: instead of using finite funds to push Metro out to the hinterlands of Dulles, they need to build redundancy into the system this side of the Beltway. That's where the density is, that's where most of your customers are, that's how you release the pressure on the choke points in the system. Or you could just sit around Fort Totten or Crystal City forever waiting for a transfer and trying not to strangle the lunatic with the Bluetooth headset talking incessantly about nothing in particular.
And speaking of lunacy, has anyone tried Budweiser Cheladas? Whoda thunk beer and clamato would kick so much ass! So long Carlo Rossi! It's chelada o'clock and I'm buying!
I think starting out with a smaller tax, say $1 or $2, and gradually raise it, so the impact on Metro is gradual. And, dedicate the revenue to mass transit!
I'd be more happy to see the parking tax increased to something like 50% with no exemptions, have the meter fees go up to $10/hour in the downtown core (or something approximating the cost of private parking) and have all the money go to Metro.
This proposal is just a feel-good way to raise general revenue for the DC government, which is about as productive as flushing the money down the toilet.
And, I live in Jim Graham's district and would gladly pay $100/month for him to SFTU!
C'mon guys. This legislature isn't completely worthless. Minus the cost of enforcing the new rules, the added tax revenue should be just enough for a few more free, tax-exempt parking spaces for city government employees.
Would $25 a day stop me from driving? No, but a jetpack, some ExLax, and a pair of assless chaps definitely would. "Lookit me, ma! Top of the World! I'm a goddamned pidgeon!"
Cars are bad! Everyone who drives in a big city should have to pay eleventy billion dollars in taxes and fees! I'm better than you because I walk to work!
Maybe we should just get rid of all streets and roads. Then we can put all the money to metro!
The High Cost of Free Parking by Donald Shoup.
The book is kind of long (and expensive). You can find links to some of Don Shoup's articles that cover much of the same material at The Victoria Transport Policy Institute. Also a great resource for all sorts of topics related to transportation planning.
I wonder if DC has any kind of transportation demand management strategy in place (or requires one from developers). Because really, a $25 fee in isolation from other policies probably won't do much.
Would paying an extra $25 a month for parking cause me to take metro instead? Heck no! The happiness that I gained by ditching Metro and driving instead is worth far more to me than $25.
i'll say what i always say when it comes to transit solutions: why can't we have what north haverbook, brockway, and ogdenville have????
Isn't this the same Jim Graham that wanted to keep the expensive zone system for taxis?
Hmm...so he wants to make it expensive to take a cab AND drive. What does he want us to do...stay home?
Clearly he doesn't take public transportation within the city. It's pitiful.
"it would still hit out of state commuters -- who impact our roads and services most -- the hardest"
I don't believe that's true. It's debateable which population has the largest impact on the roads (and for what it's worth, a lot of the road construction is funded by the federal highway fund, which all drivers pay). But it's definitely not the case that commuters have the largest impact on services. The most expensive services paid for by the DC government are restricted to residents: schools and social services.
I do think it's hypocritical on the DC Council's part to propose this bill without eliminating all free parking for DC government employees first. At the very least they could get rid of the free parking around the Wilson Building for all their staff.
I wonder if DC has any kind of transportation demand management strategy in place (or requires one from developers).
DC's transportation "strategy" consists of sodomizing your wallet (through your pants) then sending you a bill for the drycleaning, at which point someone at the Revenue Office walks off with all the money in a wheelbarrow, laughing. When the auditors discover this 20 years later, they come back for sloppy seconds on your wallet. Rinse. Lather. Repeat. You will be tested on this later.
jim graham definitely does not use public transportation himself. he drives a vw beetle convertible with the license plate "WARD 1" and drives and parks where he pleases. he frequents the adams morgan area so i have seen him park in front of hydrants, in handicapped spots, etc etc.
JIM GRAHAM STFU ALREADY.
Rinse? When did we start rinsing?
If Graham is so loathed why does he keep getting re-elected? I agree he's pretty much the ultimate blowhard and his political / governance philosophy is firmly mired in 1972 socialist glory days despite 40 years of evidence suggesting perhaps a change of course may be in order, but why does he keep getting put back in office?
Metro is building a monstrosity of a new parking garage at Huntington that I get to see grow higher and higher from my bedroom window. So you commuters can can look forward to filling that up at 7:30AM and to causing traffic problems in my 'hood thanks to a new stoplight placed 150 feet in between two other stoplights...
Graham keeps getting re-elected because the alternative sucks harder than he does. In the primary, he's usually running against some racebaiting clown or some wet-behind-the-ears dweeb. And in the general election, what's he running against? Republicans? Green Party? UMOJA?
When I first met Graham he was tending bar in some long-gone hole in Georgetown. Of course this was about 30 years ago, and it was the sort of place he'd probably try to shut down these days.
My office actually is very logical when it comes to parking, etc. The office has 15 people in it, and 8 parking spaces. So, 8 people can drive into work.
The remainder of us have our Metro subsidized up to $110/month, which is how much the company pays per parking space per month. AND it doesn't matter if you're Metro cost is less than $110/month. You're still given $110 each month.
But, we're in Chevy Chase so we're out of the clutches of Darth Graham and his minions.
Just turn the mall into a big parking lot for Smart cars. Commuters would park their normal ride, and get into one of those go-karty things to get the rest of the way to their job. They could fit it in the elevator and park it next to their desks.
Right, all of you guys suddenly hate Grahamzilla. But when he's going after Black people, he's dong the right thing. Hypocrites.
Can't Graham just close all the lots buy having the Liquor Board withhold their parking licenses or something? People are always being violent in parking lots, particularly the slackjawed hausfraus in the Suburbans with the cellphone grafted to their tiny heads.
badtz - If Spike Lee has taught me anything it's to always dong the right thing.
@Monkey - I take it you also enjoy dong the butt?