Placemaking: It all starts with the bicycle and the pedestrian.
If it's bikeable & walkable, it's a livable, quality
place!
Here are some links to get you started.
Parking Cashout and Commuter
Choice Programs USDOT’s
Federal Transit Administration Site – A good
overview of “Commuter Choice” programs. This
site has probably the best readable descriptions of how
the program works vis-a-vis compensation & tax policy
EPA’s commuter choice site – Presents
a lot of the same info as the FTA site, but also calculates
the environmental benefits of PCO.
Connecticut’s
“Deduct-a-Ride” program – Has some
great sample worksheets to calculate both employer and
employee tax-free benefits of PCO’s, transit &
vanpool & carpool vouchers. It also details a phased-in
implementation program.
Commuter
Choice Program in King Co. – Washington (which
encompasses Seattle) has a very well developed - including
Parking Cashout - that is excellent It is a great example
of how all of the programs could be brought together under
one umbrella. Here is a descriptive
report of the trials & tribulations King Co. had
in implementing their program.
FTA’s
“Commuter choice toolkit” – Lots
of Q & A brochures (in pdf format) for both employers
& employees. This could is good for “at a glance”
explanation purposes.
The visionary
statement by Alan Durn – An Elmstreet Writers
Group piece:
The urban renaissance going on across the country keeps
running into parking problems—problems that could
easily be avoided with a full-fledged cash-out program.
Then throw out the old zoning codes and their parking
minimums, allow developers to develop more densely, charge
market rates for parking and lo & behold, cities will
flourish, sprawl will get reigned in, energy supplies
will stabilize, air will get cleaner and taxes will go
down.
