In an earlier post, I introduced the issue of the overwhelming debt that is burdening Boston's mass transit system, the MBTA. In that post, I also suggested that a Parking Space Tax (PST) is a possible solution that will meet three criteria: (1) effectively addressing the debt itself (rather than merely shuffling it around), (2) improving the overall commuter experience, and (3) increasing MBTA revenues without unfairly burdening individual riders through constantly increasing fares.
In this post, I shall offer justification for taxing parking spaces as a means of meeting these three criteria. In the next post, I shall suggest some features and stipulations of a PST that ensure its equity and effectiveness as a part of a comprehensive transportation policy.
The Right to Parking
I recently watched the documentary Urbanized, a film directed by Gary Hustwit about urban planning. In the film, the former mayor of Bogota, Columbia (Enrique Peñalosa) drove home a point that stuck with me. He asked, essentially, where in the [Columbian] constitution is there a right to parking? Obviously, the answer is that there is no 'right to parking' in any constitution in the world, that a 'right to parking' does not exist. He also went on to suggest that in a democracy that it is the people who should be treated equally, not the cars. Thus, a bus that holds 50 people should have 50 times more priority and access to a roadway than a car that holds 1 person.
Building on the concept that there is no 'right to parking' (and preferring people's equity rather than cars' equity), I would like to suggest that parking is indeed a privilege and not a right. Furthermore, the existence of on-street parking spaces and public/commercial parking lots and garages (and the associated side effects of their existence) tend to put a significant burden on the public as a whole. Therefore, parking spaces should be subject to a tax.
Some Burdens of Parking Spaces on the Public
- Physical Space - The most obvious and direct impact of parking spaces and parking lots is that their physical presence prevents the allocation of that space for other uses. Just imagine if every building in Boston had an additional 9' wide patch of green space in front of it or if restaurants and cafes could provide ample outdoor seating without obstructing the sidewalk! Likewise, consider what might be possible if the neighborhood grocery store had half of its parking spaces replaced with parks that included community gardens, bike racks, or even a public pool or ice rink.
Instead, massive parking lots and on-street parking take up a lot of space. If on-street spaces were privately owned, you can be sure that the landlords would be charging rent for that space. However, since many parking spaces are publicly owned, car owners can use them rent free or nearly rent free.
Even metered parking spaces are 'rented' at rates that are low compared to the surrounding land. For example in the City of Boston, a metered parking space is charged at a rate of $1.25 per hour. For each space, this works out to a maximum of $4,692.85 per year or just over $390 per month (after considering there is no charge on Sundays and at night) for a 216 square foot space (or roughly the size of a modest studio apartment). In other words, these spaces have a maximum financial return to the public of <$22/sq. ft each year, even in areas that may have a land values of over $200/sq. ft, which pay a property tax of well over 10%! - Increased Congestion - For decades, policymakers have been attempting to address congestion and traffic by adding lanes to highways and streets. During each of those same decades, congestion has continued to get worse (or at the very least not better) in most places. Why is this?
The reasoning is that adding traffic lanes provides more opportunities for cars to pass one another. The counter-intuitive result is that more people are encouraged to drive more often rather than using other modes of transportation. In effect, adding lanes of traffic to roads makes other modes of transportation seem more dangerous (e.g. by increasing the curb-to-curb distance for pedestrians and forcing cyclists to cross multiple lanes of traffic to turn left from a bike lane) and more difficult (e.g. putting obstructions and vehicles between places that are physically close together), which encourages more people to drive - causing more congestion.
However, it is not simply the additional traffic lanes (or increased danger for alternative transportation methods) that significantly affect congestion. Instead, it is the availability of parking spaces at the end of the journey.
Consider, for a moment, if there were zero parking spaces available in Boston. How many people would drive into Boston? Basically none. Granted, there would still be some traffic through the city, and perhaps occasionally someone might drop off a friend and return without needing to park. Yet, this would certainly amount to very little congestion compared to the daily rush hour in Boston today.
Now, consider a less extreme case, where there were simply fewer parking spaces and those that were available were a little more expensive or otherwise reserved for handicapped citizens, car share programs, and bike racks. While driving would still be an option, it would probably be reserved for special occasions. Theoretically, such a scenario would decrease congestion. Thus, conversely, allowing parking spaces to be relatively cheaper and more available (the current situation) encourages more driving and more congestion than is necessary.
- Environmental Impacts - In my mind, the environmental impacts associated with parking spaces are relatively obvious even if they are somewhat indirect, so I will not dedicate too much discussion to this burden. Most directly, paved parking spaces cause increased storm-water runoff, compared to an equal amount of green space. Additionally, the vehicles parked on the spaces leak and leach fluids and oils that are often swept away with the storm-water into the rivers and harbors in Boston. Finally, as a corollary, all of the increased congestion related to parking spaces (as described above) means that each vehicle is spewing more pollutants per mile traveled.
Sincerely,
Sean Diamond
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