PARK-AND-RIDE LOTS AT TRANSIT STATIONS

The MBTA system is served by park-and-ride facilities, which play a key role in attracting riders and reducing vehicle-miles traveled. Park-and-ride lots are especially appealing to commuters in suburban locations, which often have residential neighborhoods that are too far from stations to support walking as a mode choice.

CTPS inventoried MBTA, private, and town-owned parking lots at 107 commuter rail stations, 29 rapid transit stations, 3 ferry terminals, and 2 express bus lots during the fall of 2005 and winter of 2006.

FINDINGS

Out of the 107 MBTA commuter park-and-ride lots, 63 of them (59 percent) filled to 85 percent or more of capacity. At rapid transit stations with parking, 16 out of 29 lots were full (55 percent). Hingham was the only commuter ferry terminal to fill, and Woburn was the only express bus terminal to fill to capacity.

Click here to view the tables containing the most recent inventory results.
Click here for a map of the stations included in the inventory and their utilization.
Click here to read the full memorandum containing all park-and-ride methods, data, analysis, standards, and conclusions.

COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS INVENTORIES

An inventory of park-and-ride stations was conducted as part of the Congestion Management System (CMS), now called the MMS, in the fall of 2002. Only park-and-ride lots that were located in Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization municipalities were inventoried. Data from past inventories was used for other stations. Data for stations outside the MPO area was gathered from an inventory in 2000.

A comparison of the two inventory periods shows that fewer park-and-ride lots at MBTA stations filled during the morning peak period than in previous inventories, and the percentage of parking utilization has also decreased. In the 2005/2006 inventory, 63 commuter rail stations were recorded to be full (85 percent or more of the general spaces are utilized). In the 2000 and 2002 inventories, 72 commuter rail stations were full. Also, eight of the 11 commuter rail lines have parking utilization percentages that have decreased since the inventories in 2000 and 2002.

Results were similar for park-and-ride lots at rapid transit stations. Sixteen rapid transit stations were full before the last peak period train in the 2005/2006 inventory, as compared to 22 stations in the 2000 and 2002 inventories. All four rapid transit lines also saw decreases in parking utilization.

The decreases in parking utilization are likely due to several factors, including:

• Expanded parking at several stations, including Lawrence, Fitchburg, and Woodland
• Increase in parking fees since the 2000 and 2002 inventories
• Transit fare increases in 2004 and 2007

Despite the decrease in the percentage of parking utilized and the number of park-and-ride lots that fill to capacity, some stations experienced higher demand for parking, including Haverhill, Worcester, and Route 128 stations. A few commuter rail stations filled to capacity in 2005/2006 but did not in previous inventories.