Paying Me Not to Park Part II: Stanford Does It

Last week, I wrote about the possibility of Towson, my University, to pay me not to park. The idea being that the school subsidizes faculty and student parking, so if they could get me not to purchase a parking pass by paying me the school could save money (of course they could raise parking fees too).

I thought this suggestion was a little crazy, but it is just crazy enough for Stanford University! The program is detailed in Stanford’s alumni magazine here. Stanford offers faculty and students $216 a piece last year ($282 this year) not to purchase a parking pass. Plus those who join the program also get a chance at valuable prizes.

The results are impressive from the article “The percentage that drive to work alone has dropped from 72 percent in 2002 (before the program) to 52 percent in 2007.”

One problem might be that you want to drive to work occasionally, so Stanford allows the non-commuters to purchase day passes.

Another concern is that an emergency might occur (sick kid, house is on fire, or you forgot your lecture notes). Stanford has that covered with an emergency ride program. More specifics found here.


I have been spending the summer at Stanford, but not as official employee. I’m riding my bike to work and have not parked on campus all summer. Can I have my check now?

The Economics of Parking Policy: Pay Me not To Park

There is an old saying that it is the job of the college president to make sure the students can have sex, the faculty can park, and the alumni have a winning football team. Let’s look at faculty parking. Today I got a news story about Towson’s new program to give a 50% discount on parking passes to hybrid drivers. I’m probably going to purchase a new used car within the next year, the saving of $350 a year makes a hybrid a lot more attractive of a purchase.

If you just did some quick math you realized I pay $700 a year for parking at Towson. Not all faculty pay this rate as it is in part determined by income, but I would guess most pay at least $300-$400 a year. Interestingly I never realized until the reading the article that it was not me subsidizing the lower paid faculty members, but Towson who is subsidizing me less. From the article Pam Mooney the direct of parking states “To provide a parking space costs between $2,000 and $3,000 per year per person versus $200 to $300 if a person takes the bus instead of driving.” That means Towson is spending between $1300 and $2300 a year to provide me a parking space.

So here is what I propose as a solution. If you do not purchase a parking pass you get paid equivalent of the cost of your parking pass. Faculty could work out car pooling, biking, public transportation, hiring a car service on their own. If Towson pays me $700 extra dollars for not buying a parking pass, then it saves $600-$1600 in subsidies for parking.

Next year I plan on purchasing a house a large swing in the benefit of not parking on campus, could be just the incentive I need to make sure it is close enough to bike.