“The commuter parking benefit results in $7.3 billion in forgone revenue annually while also increasing traffic congestion in our most congested cities, according to a new report, Subsidizing Traffic Congestion: The Multibillion-Dollar Tax Subsidy That’s Making Your Commute Worse, released by the civic organizations TransitCenter and Frontier Group. The report also found that the $1.3 billion public transportation benefit removes only about a tenth of the roughly 820,000 cars added to the road by the parking subsidy…Currently, employees who drive to work may receive up to $250 a month tax-free for employer-paid or employer-provided parking through reimbursements, vouchers or free parking if it has market value. Typically, these subsidies deliver the greatest benefit to the wealthy and people who work in dense employment centers, such as downtown areas that are already prone to traffic congestion during the morning and evening rush hours… The high toll of the parking benefit is further exacerbated by the fact that it touches on such a small portion of the U.S. workforce: while one third of U.S. workers receive parking benefits, only 2 percent receive transit benefits. In spite of its detrimental effects on the transportation system, the parking benefit was created with no transportation purpose whatsoever. In order to align tax policy with the nation’s transportation goals, TransitCenter and Frontier Group recommend that the federal government:

• Eliminate the parking benefit;
• At least restore parity between parking and transit benefits; and
• Explore improvements to the current transit benefits – such as refundable tax credits for household transit expenditures – that deliver financial support to a broader range of transit users.”