CSG in the news: D.C. Government Workers Aren’t Paying Enough To Park, Says Audit

WAMU, Aug. 30, 2018:

The District has committed to drastically reduce car commuting and greenhouse gas emissions. Currently about 40 percent of residents drive to work. The goal is to reduce car commuting to 25 percent, while boosting transit ridership to 50 percent, and walking and biking to 25 percent.

But subsidizing parking encourages more driving, not less.

“Everything seems to be governed by the market and pricing signals, and when we provide a lot of free parking, we get a lot more driving,” says Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth. He cites a recent study that found D.C. subsidizes parking more than any city in the country, at $86 million a year in federal and local dollars. He also points to an analysis by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments finding 73 percent of residents who have free parking at work chose to drive, while only 23 percent drive if they don’t have free parking.