Too much of a good thing?

One of my clients, the headquarters of a multinational corporation, has a problem. Their carpooling program is TOO successful.

They have 20 acres of parking for 3,000 employees, several hundred registered carpoolers and about 100 carpool-only spaces, in prime territory -- adjacent to the building.

Some employees start carpooling to qualify for the prime parking spaces, because they don't like to hike 10 minutes from the hinterlands.

The problem: a shortage of carpooling spaces. To incorporate more spaces would require a re-thinking of the available resources, and possibly investing of technology and labor to manage restricted parking.

The big picture is that carpooling is good for the environment and good for other commuters because it reduces congestion.

The little picture at this big company is: designating carpool-only spaces and enforcing the policies requires an investment.

Building more parking is NEVER cheap. "Free parking" is a misnomer. Depending on the cost of the land, the cost of a SINGLE parking space ranges from $3,000 to $225,000 [Manhattan], plus the annual cost of maintaining it. The life expectancy of a parking garage is about 30 years.

Shifting away from single-occupancy vehicle commuting shifting away from traditional infrastructure, which requires time, money and planning.

Maybe this company will make preferred parking for carpoolers a central attraction to their parking situation.