TriMet funding
If TriMet needs money for services, why doesn’t the agency start charging for services provided?
I mean specifically for parking at
transit centers. I have seen the parking garage at Gateway, and the lot
at Barbur, both completely full at rush hour. If we can put meters in
Washington Park, why can’t we put them in TriMet parking lots?
It costs about $5 a day to park at a Metro parking lot, in the Washington D.C. area. Those lots are full by 9 a.m.
Why can’t TriMet charge $1 or $2 to park for the day, in its transit center parking lots?
Daniel MohrmanNortheast Portland
(the answer to that is that Trimet won't do anything that would threaten ridership on MAX)
8 comments:
The reason is simple - if you charged $2 per day to park, then it would be cheaper just to drive downtown and park there. $2 * 30 = $60 + $100 bus pass = $160/month.
Parking downtown is much more expensive then two dollars
Don't forget The cost of gas and sitting in traffic
Not just $2, it's also a savings of $100 bus pass.
They tried that (charging for parking)quite a few years ago and it was a colossal flop and while there were plans to try again (I believe the parking machines are still in Ruby storeroom, though they must be horribly outdated by now), it was eventually pretty much made clear it would never happen, probably of threat to ridership as Al said.
Too bad they can't figure something PRODUCTIVE to do with all that wasted space at Fuller and Powell P&Rs!!!
MAX-you just proved the 'rail bias' to be true.
In order to get people to ride light rail they need to keep it 'cost effective' for people with cars'
However when it comes to the folks with no cars, they have no such concern which is why the abolished the 'short hopper' 'one zone' and 'two zone' fare and now force everyone to buy the former' all zone' ticket which is the among the highest bus fares in the entire country.
There is also the issue of the cost of collecting the money and neighborhood complaints about spillover parking
Not sure what you're getting at; if you don't have a car then $100 per month is still a steal of a deal. It might seem like a lot, but compared to a car it's very low. Car Ins: $50/mo + Car payment: $300/mo + Gas: $100/mo + Maint: $25/mo. These days people spend more on transportation than they do on rent! Only way to beat $100/month is by walking/biking!
OTOH if you're using the bus just to commute (i.e. you still own a car), then $100 might be a bit of a savings, but $160 certainly eats that away. Plus you have to balance that with the convenience of driving to work, which is worth something as well. Is taking the MAX/bus worth a $10 savings per month? Probably not.
I'm not sure what this has to do with rails, BTW - plenty of people take the bus to work. Maybe they park in a neighborhood, or Barbur TC or one of the many TriMet park & ride lots. Lots more parking options when you're getting on a bus than rail. Heck, many people could just catch a bus directly from their home. I have 2 bus lines near my house that go downtown, but no MAX.
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