On December 1, Cambridge residents can start renewing their resident parking permits, and for the first time since 2013, the price is going up, from $25 to $75. Though this may seem like a large increase, the true price was never really $25. Rather, neighbors without cars were paying part of the difference.

We are graduate students in city planning at MIT, and this spring we used city permit records and Census data to understand that gap more deeply. Administering the permit program is a significant cost, about $2.74 million a year, according to an April estimate by the city. It brings in roughly $795,000 in permit fees. The nearly $2 million gap between costs and fees is covered by all Cambridge residents, whether or not they have a car, through rent or property taxes.

We estimated the program’s true cost at about $100 per permit (see our analysis here), similar to the city’s own estimate plus some additional costs. A $25 fee meant each of the roughly 16,500 Cambridge households without a car (about one in three) paid an additional $58 a year toward other residents’ parking. Across the city, that is about $950,000 a year flowing from car-free households to the 33,000 households with cars.

Because households without a car in Cambridge are disproportionately lower-income and renters, this policy is economically regressive, meaning that money flows, on average, from lower-income to higher-income households. In Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, 36% of households earning under $25,000 a year have no vehicle. Meanwhile only 1.3% of those earning above $150,000 have no vehicle, meaning that a vast majority of wealthier Cantabrigians are receiving this subsidy.

Cambridge isn’t alone in seeking to fix this regressive policy. Philadelphia raised its permit from $35 to $75 in 2024, San Francisco charges $215 in its permit areas, and Washington, D.C., charges more for each additional car in a household.

Cambridge also took steps to address potential negative consequences of making this change by waiving it for residents who need a car but would find $75 a year a real burden. We have been asked by a City Council member to analyze the effectiveness of this opt-out approach, once data is available, and we look forward to reporting back.

An underfunded parking permit program disproportionately burdens those with fewer resources. This widens already substantial and ever-increasing inequalities in our city. There are a number of related policy efforts and initiatives around parking and transportation happening right now, and we hope to continue the conversation about how best to align city policy with the city’s goals and our community’s shared values. 

The writers are masters in city planning candidates at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning.

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