Interesting article:
QuoteIf you're an employer in a major metro area, it's in your best interest to offer a commuter benefits plan for every worker, regardless of their preferred travel mode. That typically means free parking for drivers, subway or bus pass programs for transit riders, and secure bike storage as well as maybe showers for cyclists. This seems only fair, like a bit of a win for everyone involved.
Thing is, commuter benefits for everyone can end up being a loss for the city itself. That's because the lure of free office parking is so great that it not only neutralizes the other benefits, it actually entices some commuters into their cars and out of the alternative mode they might otherwise prefer. So what looks at first like a balanced policy in fact ends up favoring drivers—and that means more traffic for the whole city.
To illustrate the problem, let's consider a new analysis of commuter benefits from Virginia Tech transport scholars Andrea Hamre and Ralph Buehler. Hamre and Buehler analyzed a household travel survey of 4,630 people with full-time jobs in the metro Washington, D.C., area (both in the city core and the inner suburbs). The survey noted each person's commute mode as well as any commuter benefits received at work.
full article: http://www.citylab.com/commute/2014/08/its-amazing-how-many-more-commuters-would-drive-less-if-they-didnt-get-free-parking/375402/
I have posted before on it but when I was offered a pre - tax payroll deduction that was used towards my monthly transit pass, it made a huge difference in my usage. I would get a check made out to the transit agency in my mailbox 2 days before my current pass expired. It didn't pay for the entire pass since there was a limit to how much you could deduct but it did trigger increased transit use in the region when the program was announced. Almost like a Kick starter campaign.