County Ends Free Parking for Workers, Will Offer Car Pool Incentive

In an effort to discourage employees from commuting alone to work, Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday ended free parking for 8,000 downtown government workers.

The action was in response to a directive from the South Coast Air Quality Management District for major employers to reduce travel by employees, and in turn reduce smog and traffic congestion.

Effective Oct. 1, county employees will be charged $70 to $220 a month to park in spaces now provided free. The county will offer a $70 monthly allowance to encourage car pooling and use of public transportation.

Employees who ride together, for example, can pool their travel allowances toward the cost of a parking space and pocket the difference. The travel allowance also can be used to purchase a bus pass.

In a letter to supervisors, UCLA professors of urban planning Donald Shoup and Martin Wachs said studies show that ending free parking for employees “significantly decreases solo driving.”

“When commuters have to make their own choices on how to spend their own money, many of them will undoubtedly decide to commute in higher occupancy vehicles,” the professors wrote.

Supervisor Pete Schabarum objected that the plan would exempt elected officials from parking fees. But the other supervisors contended that they would be required to pay. The supervisors and their chauffeurs each will receive the $70 monthly travel allowance, which could be used to cover the total cost of their $120 a month space, leaving the supervisors and their drivers $20 in spending money.

The county’s largest union, Local 660, Service Employees International Union, has opposed the parking fees, contending they are designed to open up parking lots for high-rise private development, which will lead to more congestion and pollution.

Union spokeswoman Kimberly Kyle told supervisors that an $800-a-year parking fee would disproportionately affect the county’s lowest salaried employees who have no alternative but to drive to work alone. She said that many low-paid employees live in South-Central Los Angeles and are afraid of riding the bus to work.

Margery Gould, a county management analyst, said that studies show parking fees will reduce the number of employees driving alone by 25% to 30%.