Last November, we posted an action alert on the potential for millions of Americans to see the cost of their commute suddenly rise. Congress wisely chose to extend to $230 per month tax benefit for transit as part of the 2010 package extending the Bush tax cuts, continuing transit parity with the $230 deduction available [...]

If you take transit to get to work each day, come January you could be paying more out of your own pocket when the tax deduction for transit is cut in half. But drivers will keep enjoying the same great parking benefit – nearly double what transit commuters will be eligible to receive. We don’t think that’s fair, and Congress needs to hear about it. Sign this petition from our friends at Commuter Nation urging Congress to restore the transit benefit and make it equal to the parking benefit.

Every morning in New York City, hundreds of thousands pass quickly and nearly invisibly through tunnels and across bridges into Manhattan’s Central Business District via New York’s well-traveled transit system. Though the sidewalks are still full of walkers and the streets full of cabs, buses, and cars, the real action is happening below the surface where the number of people traveling into the CBD is almost just beyond comprehension. Michael Frumin looked at the numbers at fruminator and tried to put it in perspective for you:

Washington DC’s planning commission considers reducing or eliminating parking requirements in the city, giving people and businesses more options for using space in their neighborhoods. (Washington Post — Marc Fisher)

Some big cities are finding out that requiring home and business owners to have parking available — and helping to create loads of artificially cheap spaces – may not be the smartest policy. (Associated Press – Sarah Karush)