Permits for Park and Ride lot to be vetted

Sound Transit to evaluate issuing permits to residents at busy commuter lots.

September 1, 2015 12:38 pm
A February 2015 license plate study at the Mercer Island Park and Ride shows that 46 percent of the cars were registered to a Mercer Island address.
A February 2015 license plate study at the Mercer Island Park and Ride shows that 46 percent of the cars were registered to a Mercer Island address.

To help transit riders find parking quickly and reliably, Sound Transit is considering offering permit parking at its busiest lots and garages — including the Mercer Island Park and Ride — starting in 2016.

Certain spaces would be reserved for permit holders until 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday, though at least 50 percent of parking spots at each location would remain free and available for transit riders without permits. Permits would be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis, with no local preference — though many Islanders are asking for that.

City officials have long talked about the need for “designated Mercer Island resident parking.” It is one of the bargaining chips from the city’s 2004 Memorandum of Understanding with Sound Transit. Some have questioned whether or not the city can buy back the lot, which was funded with federal money, from Sound Transit.

In 2013, Sound Transit introduced a pilot project to test permit parking at a few high demand Park and Rides: Mukilteo Station, Issaquah Transit Center, Sumner Station and Tukwila International Boulevard Station. Riders could apply for a space and pay a nominal fee — $5-$33 quarterly for HOV/SOV respectively, equivalent to $0.08-$0.53 a day — and in return would be guaranteed a parking space before 9:30 a.m. After that, the spaces reverted to general parking.

Since the results of the pilot, which ended last summer, were encouraging, Sound Transit will soon ask the Board to proceed with an expanded program.

The Mercer Island Park and Ride usually fills up by 7:30 a.m. It is one of the most-used park-and-rides in the county, with every spot filled even after a 2006-2008 expansion of the lot, which the Mercer Island City Council voted to keep from being larger.

“Sound Transit came prepared to expand the lot — they had enough money to add hundreds of stalls — but the Council opted for a smaller expansion,” former City Manager Rich Conrad told the Reporter in 2010.

According to data collected by Sound Transit before the expansion and published on the City of Mercer Island Web site, slightly over half of the total cars that parked in the original lot belonged to people who did not live on the Island, based on the cars’ license plates.

Some Park and Rides in King County have worse over-crowding problems than Mercer Island, with one lot in Renton averaging 124 percent capacity in 2009 and another in Shoreline averaging 119 percent.

Sound Transit will host a series of info sessions in the coming weeks, and they are also taking input via a short survey. If you believe that managed parking is good policy, let ST hear from you.

 

The fine print:

Transit customers must have and use a valid ORCA card to apply for a permit.

Permits could be renewed quarterly or semi-annually.

Renewal would require the permit holder’s ORCA records to show they rode transit at least three times per week during the previous permit term.

Flexibility will be allowed for time away (such as vacation).

Carpool permit holders must arrive with at least two transit riders in the permitted vehicle.