Number of car parking spaces required by the Planning Code in a First & Howard Street development proposal before the Planning Commission Jan. 13: zero
Number permitted without special authorization: 350
Number requested by
project sponsors: 1,230 valet
Percentage of SoMa workers who arrive alone by car: 33%
Portion of U.S. car trips under three miles: one half
Time spent each day by drivers in Los Angeles in traffic jams:
100,000 hours.
Cost to U.S. economy of congestion on U.S. highways: $10 billion per year.
Arable land in U.S. that has been paved: 60,000 sq. miles (10% of total).
Sources: 1-3) SF Planning Department, 4) SF Transportation Authority, 5) Worldwatch Institute, 6) New Internationalist, 7) "The Going Rate", World Resource Institute 8) "New Internationalist" (1989)