California's Parking 'Cash-Out' Program Scrutinized

After introducing the concept of the parking cash-out program—implemented as an incentive to encourage commuters out of their cars and into carpools, transit, or active commutes—Dan Weikel describes the problem with the program:

"The California Air Resources Board, the administrator, does not know how many employers or employees are participating, nor does it periodically survey workplaces to ensure compliance, although performance assessments were recommended more than a decade ago by the Legislative Analyst's Office, a nonpartisan oversight agency."

Moreover:

"Analysts noted that more outreach was necessary and that the eligibility rules were so narrowly drawn that the law applied to only about 3% of the 11 million free parking spaces provided by employers statewide."

The article goes into more detail about the benefits to air quality and CO2 emissions incurred by cash-out programs (when fully implemented), which were analyzed in detail by Donald Shoup in 1997. Shoup is quoted in the story expressing disappointment in the current state of the program.