Parking prices will go up at 32 T stations, to as high as $10 a day — but drop at others
For those who can't get by the pay-wall, I'll summarize below:
-----
They are decreasing the price from from $4 to $2 on weekends at the following stations:
Abington, Andover, Ashland,
Auburndale, Ballardvale, Bellevue,
Bradford, Brandeis, Bridgewater, Butler,
Campello, Canton Center, Canton Junction,
Cohasset,
Dedham Corporate Center,
East Weymouth, Fairmount, Forge Park, Framingham,
Franklin,
Gloucester, Grafton,
Halifax, Hamilton, Hanson,
Haverhill, Hersey, Highland,
Hingham, Holbrook, Hyde Park, Islington, Kingston,
Littleton,
Lynn,
Mattapan, Middleborough,
Milton,
Montello, Montserrat,
Nantasket, Needham Heights,
Needham Junction, Newburyport, Norfolk, North Beverly, North Scituate, Norwood Central,
Norwood Depot,
Plymouth,
Reading,
Readville, Roslindale Village,
Rowley,
South Attleboro,
South Weymouth,
Southborough, Stoughton,
Swampscott,
Wakefield,
Walpole,
West Gloucester, West Hingham,
West Natick, West Newton,
West Roxbury,
Westborough, Weymouth Landing,
Whitman, and
Wilmington.
The stations in
bold will increase from $4 to $6 on weekdays due to high demand (while still decreasing to just $2 on weekends).
The stations in
italics will decrease from $4 to $2 every day of the week: weekends and weekdays.
The other stations are staying at $4 on weekdays (while dropping to $2 on weekends).
-----
They are decreasing the price from from $5 to $2 on weekends at the following stations:
Beverly Depot and Salem,
Suffolk Downs, West Medford, Wollaston, and
Wonderland
Wonderland will increase from $5 to $7 on weekdays due to high demand (while still decreasing to just $2 on weekends).
The stations in
italics will decrease from $5 to $2 every day of the week: weekends and weekdays.
The other stations are staying at $5 on weekdays (while dropping to $2 on weekends).
-----
They are decreasing the price from from $5 to $2.50 on weekends at the following stations:
Beachmont, Orient Heights,
Savin Hill, Watertown
Savin Hill will increase from $5 to $7.50 on weekdays.
The other stations are staying at $5 on weekdays (while dropping to $2.50 on weekends).
-----
Some more expensive stations:
- Riverside and Woodland will stay $6 on weekdays, and decrease to $3 on weekends.
- Route 128 will stay $7 on weekdays, and decrease to $3 on weekends.
- North Quincy will go from $5 to $7.50 on weekdays and $3 on weekends.
- Malden Center will go from $6 to $7.50 on weekdays and $3 on weekends.
- Chestnut Hill, Eliot, Forest Hills, Oak Grove, and Waban will go from $6 to $9 on weekdays and $3 on weekends.
- Wellington will go from $6 to $9 on weekdays and $4 on weekends.
- Alewife, Braintree, and Quincy Adams will go from $7 to $10 on weekdays and $3 on weekends.
- Sullivan will go from $6 to $9 on weekdays and stay $6 on weekends.
-----
Some of my own takeaways:
- It's good that they are decreasing the price of parking at these often empty and overpriced suburban Commuter Rail lots. The Commuter Rail is very underutilized on weekends (relative to comparable systems elsewhere) and one of the reasons is that it is not competitively priced. Slashing the price of parking and introducing the $10 weekend-long any-zone fare are two very good steps in the right direction.
- Two suburban Commuter Rail stations jump out at me for the same reason: Littleton/Route 495 and South Attleboro. Their lots are going up in price on weekdays (from $4 to $6). They are park-and-ride oriented stations next to highways, and serve to take cars of the road and convince highway drivers to "park and ride." If the price of parking gets too high, they do not serve their purpose, and turn people away. If the parking lots are full, they also turn people away. These stations have become very popular, which is great! But, to adequately serve their purpose, they are both in need of parking garages to increase the amount of parking.
- Similarly, other Commuter Rail stations jump out at me for a different reason: Auburndale, Reading/Wakefield, and Southborough/Westborough. All five of these stations are also increasing from $4 to $6 on weekdays due to demand. None of these stations were originally built as highway park-and-rides and none are particularly well-suited to serve that purpose, but have fallen into that role due to a lack of options. This underscores the need for well-positioned park-n-rides (similar to Littleton/495 or Route 128 Station) to adequately serve today's commuters:
- Auburndale. The Worcester Line crosses I-95 (128) right at the Mass Pike junction. This would be the perfect location for a park-n-ride. Instead, commuters are trying to use Auburndale (a small neighborhood station that's not right next to a highway exit) as a park-n-ride. Hence why there is the need to raise the parking rate from $4 to $6 on weekdays. It would take some careful planning to build, but the demand is there for a big park-n-ride station and garage/lot, with it's own dedicated exit from the Pike and/or I-95 in Newton or Weston. Mega-dream: extend the D Branch of the Green Line one-stop to this new multi-modal station.
- Southborough/Westborough. The Worcester Line also crossing I-495 right at the Mass Pike junction. Yet, there's also no station there. Talk about a wasted opportunity! There's plenty of land to make it happen. This area is between the Southborough and Westborough stations. Both are inefficiently located to serve highway commuters, but enough commuters try to use them, hence the increase in weekday price from $4 to $6. The Worcester Line needs both of these park-n-rides (Weston/Newton I-95 & Westborough/I-495).
- Reading/Wakefield. The Haverhill Line is also lacking adequate park-n-rides. The Haverhill Line crosses 128 (I-95) in the Wakefield/Reading area, in between Reading and Wakefield Stations, but the line does not have a good highway adjacent park-n-ride. Those who take the Lowell Line, use Woburn/Anderson Station as such. But for the Haverhill Line, these stations are in town centers, and not conducive to serving highway drivers. This is why the MBTA feels the need to raise parking prices at these stations from $4 to $6 at these stops. A better long-term solution: a big park-n-ride station by I-95 to serve these commuters.
- Blue Line Extension. Wonderland will increase from $5 to $7 on weekdays due to high demand. Clearly a lot of commuters are coming from further out to park here and take the Blue Line in. This further shows how high the demand is for extending the Blue Line beyond Wonderland (to Lynn and possibly beyond). In addition to this extension, extending the Blue Line to Charles/MGH and beyond will further encourage commuters from the North Shore to take mass transit, and will better serve these commuters.
- Orange Line Extension. Forest Hills will go from $6 to $9 on weekdays due to high demand. The problem is that Forest Hills is right smack dab in a dense neighborhood: JP, on crowded city streets. Extending to Orange Line to Roslindale will at least relieve some of this pressure. Ultimately, I think the region needs the Orange Line to be extended to 128 (either in Westwood or Needham).
- Red Line Extension. Alewife will go from $7 to $10 on weekdays due to high demand. This was never meant to be the end of the line, and the strain is showing. A lot of commuters are coming from Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Waltham, etc, and parking here. Extending the Red Line to Arlington would be a start. Ultimately, similar to the Orange Line, the Red Line needs to be extended to 128 (either in Waltham or Lexington).
-----
Sorry for the long spiel. I just kind of went stream-of-consciousness.