Auto subsidy "places enormous costs on our society"

TreeHugger: "From subsidies given to oil companies to produce cheap oil, to government bailouts/ownership of auto manufacturers, to road construction and maintenance on streets that cost nothing to use, to highly subsidized parking spaces, to government health care costs associated with pollution from automobiles, to the detrimental health that results from sedentary lifestyle that cars promote, to the vast government policing forces required to enforce our streets: it is undeniable that driving places enormous costs on our society, and this cost is highly subsidized by our government."

Just for downtown parking $19M not counting subsidy

citizen-times: "City transportation department director Putnam agrees: Parking supply is a matter of consumer perspective. Because parking meters are free after 6 p.m., people seek out those 765 spaces, and they fill up first. Drivers get frustrated looking for street parking, and it seems like there's nowhere to park. Instead, try a parking deck, Putnam said."

The cost to the economy, not counting subsidy, for parking downtown, is $40/yr per person for greater Asheville. Free public transit would end this and free most of the wasted space.

Parking is a hidden cost of the #autosprawl system, an externality not counted in the profits of oil, auto, and sprawl.