Wanda over on our Facebook page posted this article. Basically it says the the Metro and The Virginia Railway Express (VRE) in the DC area. They have 56,000 spaces and 80,000 cars a day they need to park. Sooo what to do, what to do.
First, They could build garages, but at $25K a space, they think that’s a non starter.
Second they could charge (VRE is free, Metro charges $4.75) . They could raise rates, but are afraid that would cause ridership problems. And here’s the logic issue:
If they raised rates or charged (VRE) then people, they think, would drive into DC and what, pay upwards of $15 to $25 a day to park (even at a monthly rate of $300, that’s nearly $15 a day) plus pay for gas, etc, etc, etc.
So what is the problem — people can’t get from their homes to the train station so they drive there and have to park. I’m sure they have considered shuttles, buses, kiss and ride areas, special HOV lots, etc.
As Shoup pointed out in the article, there is another issue — if the lots are full at 7AM, then people who want to go into the city at 11 or 1pm are out of luck. Those trains go empty. Finding other ways to get people to the trains using fewer cars is an answer. I’m sure some numbers wizard would be able to figure out how to build parking and make it pay for itself.
JVH
