Employer-paid parking is cited as the major reason why 91% of commuters drive to work in the USA. 91% of cars contain only one occupant. Studies indicate that a third of drivers would change to other modes if they had to pay for parking. Parking cash-out schemes where drivers are paid an amount for those days they do not use a car to get to work are described. Such schemes are considered socially fair as inadvertent discrimination on the basis of gender or ethnicity is eliminated. The tax status of the parking cash-out payments is discussed. The consequences of free parking for global land use if current vehicle ownership trends continue, parking costs on travel behaviour, the effects of free parking on car pooling, California's parking cash-out law/ politics, taxation policy, the effects of cash-out on modal split, employee attitudes, and parking cash-out compared with conventional travel demand management, are described. For the covering abstract see ITRD E116128.
Abstract