Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Around the Block

Tesla’s Parking Problem Says a Lot About Elon Musk’s Brand of Tech Saviorism

Tech magnate Elon Musk is often held up as the guy with all the answers to our transportation problems. But on infrastructure, his answers always seem to be wildly impractical and oblivious to how transportation and cities work: tunnels to cure L.A. traffic, or pneumatic tubes for speeding intercity travel.

So it's fitting that the Palo Alto headquarters for Musk's flagship company, Tesla, has an epic logistical problem caused by the spatial inefficiency of its core product. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Tesla's parking lot has become a Hobbesian nightmare. One Instagram account mocks employee parking habits like leaving cars on medians and pedestrian walkways.

Joseph Cutrufo at Mobilizing the Region says Musk has to face up to the fact that transportation systems don't work well when everyone drives:

Instead of asking “where do we park everyone,” Musk really ought to take a step back and ask, “why is everybody driving?” This is a major metropolitan area, so there must be some transit around, right? Is there no other way to get to Tesla’s corporate office in Palo Alto or its manufacturing facility in Fremont?

As it turns out, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) just opened its newest station, Warm Springs/South Fremont, just a stone’s throw from the massive Tesla manufacturing facility in Fremont. But we’d be surprised if anyone working at this facility actually uses it: while it’s just a half-mile to the station as the crow flies, the actual distance for a human is almost two miles. That’s almost 40 minutes on foot, but it probably feels a lot longer when the streets look like this [above].

It seems Musk is belatedly catching on. CBS San Francisco reports that Tesla will begin paying employees to bike to work.

More recommended reading today: Seattle Transit Blog has the supremely disappointing news that every single Democratic member of the Washington House voted in favor of a bill to slash funding for the city's light rail expansion plan. Systemic Failure reports that just days after California passed a gas tax hike, state highway planners are already putting forward road expansion projects, contrary to public promises. And Pricetags explains why gas stations are disappearing from downtowns in big cities.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Talking Headways Podcast: This Boat is Doing Something Amazing for Transit!

Could a simple sale of old train cars inspire a new generation of transit fans down in Lima, Peru? It's all part of a very special edition of our podcast.

September 11, 2025

In Trade Deal With Trump, Europe Sells Out its Pedestrians

The new trade deal between the European Union and the U.S. means that pedestrians from Lisbon to Helsinki will be endangered by big, American-made trucks.

September 11, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines Are Day Trippers

It took me so long to find out one-way streets are bad, but I found out.

September 11, 2025

Republicans Target D.C. Traffic Cameras and Right-on-Red Ban Amid Trump ‘Takeover’

Automated enforcement has been shown to work. But federal officials who drive everywhere don't like it. Welcome to the Trump administration's takeover.

September 10, 2025

Wednesday’s Headlines Are a Different Kind of Death Spiral

Transit funding cuts lead to faster climate change leads to economic catastrophe leads to more transit cuts.

September 10, 2025

White House Threatens Transit Cuts After Murder on N.C. Train

A top White House official signaled he'd capitalize on a recent murder on a Charlotte, N.C. train to cut funding to transit systems across the country.

September 9, 2025
See all posts