Here’s the article, I will attempt to parse it.
Seems there are many more people wanting to park near the Connecticut stations for the trains into New York City than there are spaces. One waiting list has nearly 800 people on it for a station with 350 spaces. The waiting time can be as much as six years.
The permit costs $345 a year. If you don’t have a permit you can get a voucher to park about a half mile from the station for $3 a day, which is about twice the cost of the close in convenient permit.
There are apparently no m0re parking facilities on the drawing boards.
So let me get this straight. It costs about a buck and a half to park for a day and take the train in the convenient, basically reserved spots and three bucks to park and hike for ten minutes. Am I missing something here.
The rail line subsidizes the parking because surely it costs more that a $1.50 a day to provide parking in ritzy Connecticut. Dare I ask why they don’t raise the rates. Let the market set the parking rates — people will pay what they will. At some point the list will go away, and who knows. Maybe someone will decide that its good business to provide parking near the station. Of course as long as Metro North forces the prices down, who in their right mind would build a parking garage. Hell, it might be good business at $200 a month. A 500 car garage would generate $1.2 million a year, probably enough to make a profit. Who knows?
We will never know, however, as long as the rail line listens to its riders and keeps the pricing ridiculously low.
Just Saying
JVH
