Estimating the Travd and Parking Demand Effects of Employer-Paid Parking

is one of ten regional units mandated by Congress and established in Fall 1988 to support research, education, and training in surface transportation. The UC Center serves federal Region IX and is supported by matching grants from the U.S. Department of Transportation, the California Department of Transportation (Cakrans), and the University. Based on the Berkeley Campus, UCTC draws upon existing capabiIities and resources of the Institutes of Transportation S~dies at Berkeley, Davis. Irvine, and Los Angeles; the Instinate of Urban and Re~onal Development at Berkeley; and several academic departments at the Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, and Los Angeles campuses. Facu!ty and students on other University of California campuses may I~a.nicipate in Center activities. Researchers at other universities within the region also have opportunities to collaborate with UC faculty on selected studies. UCTC's educational and research prograrns are focused on strategic planning for improving metropolitan accessibility, with emphasis on the special conditions in Region IX. Particular attention is directed to strategies for using transportation as an instrument of economic development, while also ac* commodating to the region's persistent expansion and while maintaining and enhancing the quality, of life there. The Center distributes reports on its research in worl,dng papers, monographs, and in reprints of punished articles. It also publishes Access, a magazine presenting summaries of seIected studies. For a Iist of pubIications in print, write to the address below. The contents oftHs report reflect the views of the author who is responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or pol/cies of the State of California or the U.S. Department of Transportation. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. A multinomial Iogit model of downtown Los Angeles commuters is used to assess the effect of employer-paid parking on mode choice and parking demand. Employer-paid parking significantly increases the probability that an employee will drive to work alone. The best performing models predict that between 25 and 34 percent fewer automobiles are driven to work when workers have to pay to park, as compared to when they park free. This analysis provides support for the notion that public policies concerning traffic congestion, air poUution and energy use must address employer-paid parking.