parking cash-out, development permit approval process

Description

California has had a “parking cash-out” law since 1992 that requires certain employers who provide subsidised parking to their employees instead offer a cash allowance in lieu of the parking space. The law does not require that employers provide a commute subsidy of any type nor does it require them to raise the cost of parking—it simply requires that employers offer a choice in their benefits package, thus removing some of the incentive to drive. A previous study had found that employer-paid parking was not just a substitute for parking that would have been paid for by employees who would drive to work in any case—employer-paid parking stimulated additional driving to work by 36%. This study produced for the California Air Resources Board found that at eight companies (having a total of 1,694 employees) where parking cash-out was applied, the SOV mode share, vehicle trip rate and VKT for work fell significantly. The long-term effects (after more than one or two years of the policy) could be even more significant given the effect of new employees and word of mouth—at one case study firm where data was available for three years, the SOV rate decreased in each year. California’s cash-out legislation additionally requires local governments to reduce the minimum parking requirements for commercial developments that implement parking cash-out programs. The study suggests that over the long-run, both employer and local government aspects of the parking cash-out law would push parking supply downward. The study also suggested that there is more potential in using parking cash-out to manage travel demand than in eliminating parking subsidies or raising the price of parking. The use of employer-provided parking as a benefit to recruit and retain employees is too widespread of a practice and raising parking changes would reduce the desirability of locating to a particular area and divert travellers to other locations. Cashing out does not have any of these consequences and does not affect employees who would drive in any instance. Earlier studies were cited that showed over 50% of automobile commuters in the CBDs of cities like Los Angeles, New York and London receive employer-paid parking.

Participants

Law applies to companies with at least 50 employees, who lease their parking spaces and are located in a designated “nonattainment” air basin; study of eight companies having a total of 1,694 employees (1997)

Trip Reduction Impact

Reported

After cashing out at the eight companies, the average number of vehicle round trips to work (which weights HOV trips and excludes transit, bicycle and walk trips) fell from 0.82 per employee per day to 0.73, a reduction of 11% in vehicle round trips to work.

Vehicle Kilometres Traveled Impact

Reported

After cashing out at the eight companies, VKT per employee per year dropped by an average of 1,050 VKT or 4.2 fewer VKT per employee per work day (based on an average one-way vehicle commute distance of 24.1 km and only minimal impacts on VKT because of the more circuitous route taken in carpooling). VKT reductions following cashing out averaged 12% per employee per year, with a range from 5 to 24%.

SOV Impact

Reported

Employer-paid parking stimulates additional driving to work by 36%; when commuters paid for their own parking, 53 people drove to work for every 100 employees, but by comparison, when parking was free, commuters drove an average of 72 cars per 100 employees (1995). Before “cashing out”, the eight companies had mode shares almost identical to national figures, but after cashing out, the weighted average SOV mode share fell from 76% to 63%. Study suggested that in comparison to the elimination of parking subsidies, which his review of previous studies showed would result in a 26% reduction in SOV trips to work, cashing out has a more moderate effect – a 11% reduction in SOV trips to work.

Transit Impact

Reported

Before “cashing out”, the eight companies had mode shares almost identical to national figures, but after cashing out, the weighted average transit mode share increased from 6% to 9%. Following cash-out, for every 100 commuters, 3 changed modes to begin taking.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impact

Reported

Cashing out reduced total vehicle emissions for commuting by 12 percent, with a range from 5 to 24 percent for the eight firms.

Estimated

Annual GHG emissions reduced ≈ 0.24 kt CO₂e

Assumptions

1000 employees participate
Annual VKT reduction ≈ 1,050,000
Highway vs. city VKT = 65% vs. 35%

Other Impacts & Co-Benefit

Reported

Before “cashing out”, the eight companies had mode shares almost identical to national figures, but after cashing out, the weighted average carpool mode share increased from 14% to 23% and the combined walk and bicycle mode share increased from 3% to 4%. Following cash-out, for every 100 commuters, 13 changed modes – 9 joined carpools and one began to walk or bike.

Reference

Shoup, David. “Evaluating the Effects of Cashing Out Employer-Paid Parking: Eight Case Studies.” Paper published earlier as a program evaluation report for the California Air Resources Board.Transport Policy 4, no. 4 (1997): 201-216. And Shoup, David. “An Opportunity to Reduce Minimum Parking Requirements.” Journal of the American Planning Association 61, no. 1 (1995): 14-28. Cited in Shoup (1997).