SALT LAKE CITY -- Salt Lake City is offering free metered parking to residents whose vehicles get 50 miles per gallon, have low emissions or are powered by an alternative fuel, according to a Washington Post report. Salt Lake City, which hopes to encourage the use of “green” vehicles, joins New Haven, Conn., Fresno, Calif., and Albuquerque, N.M., in the free parking meter program. In the past year, Austin, Texas, also approved a green vehicle incentive that provides $100 in free parking. Commuters in Baltimore who use low emissions vehicles can also buy parking passes at city-owned garages at a discounted rate. In Utah, about 3,500 vehicles will qualify for the free meter program, said Dan Bergenthal, city transportation engineer in the report. Utah already offers an income tax credit of up to $3,000 for residents who buy clean fuel vehicles and some electric hybrids. It also allows those vehicles to use high occupancy vehicle lanes.