Park-and-ride usage surged in 2007

With bus ridership up across King County, it’s probably no surprise that park-and-ride lots are busier than ever.

The park-and-ride numbers are just in for 2007, and King County Metro Transit is reporting a 7 percent increase in daily usage of the lots. That’s the same increase seen in Metro’s overall ridership last year.

Northgate Park-and-Ride

While the two figures are connected, there isn’t a direct correlation because not every bus rider uses the lots. Still, on a daily basis, more than 17,700 commuters, students, and other bus riders find the park-and-rides a great way to connect with bus service and reduce their drive-alone miles.

"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.

The four I-90 lots that were open in 2007 held almost 3,000 vehicles each weekday, and drew the bus riders and vanpoolers from as far away as Carnation and Black Diamond. That doesn’t include other boarding passengers who transfer, walk, or are dropped off at the lots. Desmond said everyone – no matter how they travel – benefits from having 3,000 fewer cars on that stretch of I-90 each day.

"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.