In 2006, Transportation Alternatives responded to a plea from the merchants of Chinatown who saw their streets and sidewalks taken over by government workers commuting to lower Manhattan. Many government workers are issued parking placards that allow them to park in specific areas of the City. Some permits are for official business only while some are for commuting. However, the NYPD do not enforce parking violations against placard holders, leading to an epidemic of blocked sidewalks, fire hydrants, bus stops and crosswalks. Government workers commute by car at twice the rate of private sector workers, largely because free, ticketless parking waits for them at the end of their trip. T.A. is working to reduce the number of permits issued, increase enforcement against illegally parked cars bearing permits and change the culture of entitlement that has developed around permit use.

In 2007, Transportation Alternatives launched Uncivilservants.org, a user-driven website that allows New Yorkers to post photos and descriptions of government workers abusing their parking placards. The hundreds of posts and comments have driven stories in the mainstream press, and provide continuous documentation of this pernicious problem. Visit the site at Uncivilservants.org

Watch the film of T.A.'s landmark press conference and the release of Above the Law, the first study of placard abuse across the five boroughs.