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MARTA to raise some parking rates By STACY SHELTON Staff Writer |
May 14, 2001
By the time Janice Green pulls into the College Park MARTA station every morning at 8, the free parking is already gone.
She has to park in the overnight lot and pay $3. The spots are meant for airport-bound riders, not work-a-days like her but what's her choice?
"I hate the traffic. This is more convenient to go ahead and pay rather than drive up the line to find a place," said Green, a BellSouth employee. "So I just go ahead and pay the price."
MARTA wants to make her life easier. By raising overnight parking rates at College Park and three other stations, officials hope the higher fees will send airport travelers to stations with more available parking spaces.
The overnight rate increases to $6 at the four stations would go into effect July 1, if the MARTA board approves them as part of its proposed $350 million budget May 21.
MARTA officials are hoping to take advantage of one of its best resources: hundreds of acres of parking. Raising the parking fees is expected to bring in an additional $1.5 million, and help offset the budget's 1.5 percent increase, said Terry Griffis, MARTA's chief financial officer.
Also, the authority wants to make it easier for daily riders like Green to find a free spot.
Ridership has declined slightly since a 25-cent fare increase went into effect Jan. 1 but more people are parking at rail stations than ever before. In April, more than three-quarters of MARTA's 25,755 parking spots were taken on any given weekday. Officials attribute the increase in part to the opening of North Springs and Sandy Springs stations in north Fulton County.
A lot of the pressure is coming from air travelers looking for a cheap hassle-free ride to Hartsfield International Airport. As many as one-fourth of the cars left at some stations are airport traffic and many spill into the daily lots, hurting the daily riders.
Besides College Park, which is one stop away from Hartsfield, the stations targeted for the rate increase are Lindbergh, Doraville and North Springs. Lindbergh is in heavily populated Buckhead; the other two are end-of-the-line stations in the northern suburbs.
Even at the higher rate, rail parking will still be cheaper than the airport's $8-a-day economy lots.
Overnight rates will remain $3 at the other five stations where it's allowed. The goal is to push air travelers to those underused lots. Daily parking will continue to be free.
The North Springs deck, for example, is 86 percent occupied on most days. At the next stop less than two miles south on Ga. 400, the Sandy Springs deck is only 28 percent occupied.
MARTA's parking strategy, though, has always depended on ridership. Starting in 1985, the authority began charging $1 a day to park at all its lots. It generated about $2 million a year in revenues. But the board got rid of it in most lots after six years to entice more riders. The scheme worked. New riders made up the lost revenues and daily fees were abandoned.
The new parking fees will make it tough for frequent air travelers like John Duncan who don't live near stations that offer overnight parking.
The Virginia-Highland resident uses College Park because it's quick and easy. And going anywhere else means going in the wrong direction.
Carrying his business suit on a hanger through the College Park lot Friday night after a business trip, Duncan said he had no idea what he'll do if the fee goes to $6 a day. "That's unfortunate. That's just the pits."