Speaking of parking (transportation demand management)

Christopher calls our attention to a brilliant proposal from the City of San Francisco for reducing driving demand by mandating equal support of non-driving options. See "PLAN AFOOT TO GET S.F. WORKERS OUT OF CARS: BUSINESS' OBLIGATION: Firms would have to provide transit passes or shuttle service or help employees set up pretax accounts," from the San Francisco Chronicle. From the article:

Businesses with more than 20 employees working in San Francisco would be required to help their workers ditch their cars and commute to work on transit or in vanpools under a proposal being considered by city officials. The goal of the plan, which would be the first in the nation, is to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality by getting more people out of polluting cars. ...

[Under] Pretax wages for passes. Set up a deduction program under existing federal guidelines, which would allow employees to use up to $110 a month in pretax wages to purchase transit passes or vanpool rides. The program provides financial incentives. Employers would save 9 percent on payroll taxes. Employees would save 40 percent on their transit costs.

It still bugs me that by comparison, similar initiatives in DC, be they Zoning, planning, City Council passed legislation, or the Department of Transportation, are very disjointed.