Earlier in the week I wrote about the Solving DC Problems contest and that someone had an idea for Bikechecks, that work like metro checks for bikes (based on the number of positive comments, I'm not alone in liking the idea).
When I saw this article about the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, I wondered if it were the same thing
NIH employees also have an option called transhare. In exchange for their parking permits, they receive $105 a month to use for public transportation, and about 33 percent of the staff is expected to participate in the program this summer.
I
f the system works like this, get a parking permit or get $105 - that's great. If it works like this, get a parking permit or $105 in metro fares - it's only good. The second system would do what my economist friend calls "picking a winner" and it's bad. Why not let people choose how to get to work instead of pushing them onto a crowded metro system (I love metro, but we're using it at near capacity). The article mentions car poolers, segway users and bike commuters but I don't think they get any money. Does anyone know how the system works?
The parking spaces aren't cheap, according to The High Cost of Free Parking, parking spaces are worth more than the cars parked in them. Why should NIH care how they get emptied, as long as they're empty? In fact if they prefer anything it should be walking and biking since it will keep their health costs down, and promote public health through cleaner air - something I would expect NIH to care about if no one else. My work place has a federal mandate to have 5% of employees get to work by something other than car. Sadly they have never met the mandate. Offering people $105 a month would probably do the trick.
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