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Park-and-ride usage surged in 2007
“It’s a coincidence that ridership and park-and-ride usage are up by the exact same percentage, but it is all part of the same demand trend,” said Metro General Manager Kevin Desmond. “There’s quite a bit of ‘build-it-and-they-will-come’ philosophy with both bus service and transit facilities right now,” said Desmond. “Almost all of our new bus routes, park-and-rides, and transit centers are popular and well-used from the minute they are rolled out.” In recent years, the I-90 corridor has been one of the biggest success stories for Metro and Sound Transit. There are six park-and-ride lots either adjacent or very close to the highway between Preston and Mercer Island, including multi-story garages at Eastgate, Issaquah Highlands, just-opened Mercer Island, and soon-to-be-open Issaquah.
“Eastgate and Issaquah Highlands are two of our newest facilities, so we expected it could take a few years for them to fill up,“ said Desmond. “It hasn’t. Both are over 85 percent full on any given weekday and they are very large garages.” Capacity is an issue for many of the lots in the system. Metro has 66 permanent lots and 64 smaller lots that are leased from private property owners such as churches and businesses with parking to spare. Of the permanent lots, more than 15 are routinely over capacity each weekday. That means people are parking in fire lanes, along curbs, or in other unmarked spots. “Even our lots that are technically under-capacity are still well more than 80 and 90 percent full each day,” said Desmond. He said during 2007, the daily usage average for the north end permanent lots was close to 90 percent. Usage in the Eastside lots continued to grow rapidly. And, Metro is seeing a surge at the South King County lots, particularly those that are served by both buses and commuter trains. “With the cost of gas and urban parking continuing to rise, I don’t think demand for park-and-ride spaces is going to decrease any time soon,” said Desmond. |
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