Taxing Parking

While the TTC is begging the provice for money – Vancouver’s transit authority Translink is getting beat up about their parking tax. If only the TTC had such problems. The business owners in Vancouver are all up in arms about $30/year per parking space. I guess these business owners aren’t too good at mathematics. That’s like 8 cents a day. Even at minimum parking rates they could cover the 8 cents and make a little profit. Here’s another economic lesson for business owners. It costs the average employee $8000 a year to own and operate a vehicle (and that doesn’t include parking). For a business that means that every parking space in your lot means a $8000 premium on every salary you pay to automobile driving employees. In Japan they know that good transit is good business – it keeps salaries competitive and the roads free to move goods and products. Not to mention that parking lots aren’t exactly urban catalysts, economically speaking.