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