POINT OF VIEW


$3 Billion Fromthe Feds, Tales fromVienna, Going ‘Green’


BY JOHN VAN HORN P


ARKINGISSUBSIDIZED$3BILLION by the Feds, according to DC.Streets- Blog.org.Did you get your check? I sure didn’t. The online article doesn’t mean the government actually sends out mon-


ey – like they do for farmers or education – but the subsidy comes as a tax break for parking expenses (i.e., when you drive to work and pay, say, $200 a month for parking, that can be written off your taxes).


It’s like yourmortgage interest.The fact that you canwrite it


offmeans that the government is subsidizing the purchase of your house. Think of it this way: If you pay 25%of your income in fed-


eral taxes, and you can write off $200 a month in parking fees, it means the government is actually paying you $50 amonth to help cover your parking costs – that’s a subsidy. What is interesting is that the IRS allows you to write off


only $100 in transportation costs (fares for buses or trains).And I thought that the Feds wanted to urge people out of cars and onto rapid transit.These tax laws don’t seemto do that. However, the wizards in Congress are attempting to fix that.


They are going to set a “maximum” you can write off of $230 a month total for both. Previously, it was $100 for transportation and $200 for parking. Of course, they want to reduce the “sub- sidy,” not increase it. This seems a tad unfair to me. If I live in NewYork City,


$200 doesn’t cover my parking costs. However, in DesMoines, much of the subsidy goes to waste. So by the fact of my geo- graphic location, the government subsidizes my parking and transportationmore or less. All of this doesn’tmake a lot of sense. If I live in DesMoines and make $90,000 a year, I pay the


same amount of federal taxes as the poor soul who makes the same in NewYork. However, they get more of a subsidy in park- ing and transportation than I do. And, of course, this works for only those who actually pay


taxes. If Imake less than,what, $40Kand have a bunch of kids, I don’t even pay taxes. So the subsidy works only for those who really don’t need it. Confused? I knowI am.As usual, the lawof unintended con-


sequences kicks in, and the folks with the bucks get the breaks and those without get it in the neck. Fair? I don’t think so.


*** I spent some time inVienna at the European ParkingAssoci-


ation’s biennial conference in late September. Two conversations stood out. I spoke with an international consultant. He toldme that last


6 NOVEMBER 2009 • PARKING TODAY • www.parkingtoday.com


year about this time his business just dried up. Projects were put on hold: “There is no money.” Two weeks before the conference, his phone began ringing off the hook. He now hasmore business than he can handle. “They are calling from everywhere, from Jamaica, fromLebanon, and fromthe UK. There is a lot of work to be done in parking.” The second conversationwaswithmembers of a group from


one of the largestmanufacturers of parking equipment in Europe. They said that for them, too, the market has rebounded strong. “Deals that were put on hold are active again.With the exception of Spain, and Italy, Europe is booming, as is the Middle East, Australia and EastAsia.” Wow – that’s terrific news. The EPAwas extremely happywith its showthis year. Com-


ments from the vendors were that the IPI was slow, but the EPA was rocking.Good traffic, and high-quality attendees. I looked at the content of the EPA presentations. They were top of the line. That brings good people. Parking is coming back.


*** Things seemto sell better today if they are “green.” Not like


Kermit, but environmentally sound. Cars, houses, toilet paper.We buy it because it’s “green” and therefore we are doing something for the environment. Parking is moving that way, too. How many systems in your


garage can be justified, wholly or partly, because they are green? Changing light bulbs to fluorescent?UsingAVI at the entrance and exit so cars spend less time waiting and lowering the CO levels, thus also lowering the electricity costs for running fans?How‘bout wiring the place so electrical vehicles can be charged? Does the garage have photoelectric cells on the roof to gener-


ate power? How about a design so it’s cooler in the summer and warmer in thewinter?Wherewas the steel bought – is it recycled? What about the concrete?Are there vines on the outside, trees sur- rounding, grass on the roof where the football teampractices? Do you recycle the rain runoff? Of course, all these things are great – and maybe they even


help a bit.However,we are very conditioned to them, sowe accept themon face value. Now we find out that cities and universities in particular are looking for green justification so the Feds will sup- plymoremoney. The thing to remember is that these are like those balloon toys:


If you squeeze here, something pops out over there. Electric cars are super, but you have to generate the electricity


somewhere. Think of all the power plants we would need if 100 million cars had to be charged every night.Of course, the batteries that run themcause death and destruction in entire regions in Chi- na, but that’sOKsince it’s over there and not here. We replace incandescent bulbs with fluorescent, and then we have a disposal problemand need a hazmat suit ifwe break one of


Continued on Page 8


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64