Parking at Metrorail Stations

Facilities

Metro operates parking facilities at 42 Metrorail stations. Of these:

  • All 42 stations offer daily or hourly parking.
  • 35 stations offer reserved parking, where customers purchase permits to park in reserved spaces.

Fees

  • Parking at Metro-operated lots is free on weekends and federal holidays. 
  • Fares for daily parking are collected upon exit at most stations between 10:30 a.m. and closing time of the rail system. Policies vary by station. 
  • Short-term metered parking costs $1 per hour, but parkers may find some meters that still charge the old rate of 25¢ per hour while meters are being upgraded to accept the higher fee.

Payment Options

SmarTrip. SmarTrip® cards are the only accepted form of payment for daily parking except at Anacostia, Franconia-Springfield, Largo Town Center, New Carrollton, Shady Grove, and Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, where major credit cards are also accepted. You will not be able to exit any other Metro parking lot unless your SmarTrip card has enough money on it to pay the full parking fee.

See the SmarTrip page for details on buying and using SmarTrip. Note that SmarTrip cards are also sold through vending machines for $10 (with $5 value loaded) at all stations where parking is available.

Cash. Fees at metered spaces can be paid using coins. Cash cannot be used to pay any other parking fees.

Credit card pilot program. As part of a pilot program, riders can now pay daily parking fees with a major credit card at six Metrorail stations. The parking facilities at the Anacostia, Franconia-Springfield, Largo Town Center, Vienna/Fairfax-GMU, Shady Grove, and New Carrollton Metrorail stations each have one exit lane that accepts both credit card payments and SmarTrip. Customers may use Discover, Mastercard, Visa, American Express or Japanese Credit Bank cards at these locations via credit card readers installed next to the existing SmarTrip card target readers on the side of the booth.

Multi-day Parking

Multi-day parking is available at three stations: Greenbelt, Huntington, and Franconia-Springfield. Each of these stations has between 15 and 17 spaces allocated for multi-day use of up to 10 days. Availability is on a first-come, first-served basis. There is no charge for multi-day parking beyond the regular fee, paid with a SmarTrip card on the day of exit if exiting during collection hours (10:30 a.m. - midnight on Monday - Thursday, and 10:30 a.m. - 3 a.m. Friday).

These spaces, located inside the regular facilities and not at the metered (Kiss & Ride) spaces are at:
1. Level 1J at Franconia-Springfield station
2. The lower level of the new Huntington station garage
3. Cherrywood Lane side at Greenbelt station

We strive to provide accurate reference material for your convenience but parking is governed by the posted rates and restrictions at the parking facility. Please let us know of any discrepancies via our customer comment form.

Parking Customer Service

In addition to contacting Metro's Parking Office via the general customer service address above, you can also submit forms for these common parking customer service requests:


© 2009 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority