Commuter railroad parking in the NYC region

When the mindset is wrapped around the car, accommodating transit riders can be expensive, if everyone expects that they can drive to the station by themselves and park. The New York Times has an article about this, "Same Problem, Different Stations," including a good set of photos that also show a bicyclist going to the Princeton Junction, NJ station, as well as a shuttle bus service in Maplewood, NJ.

The idea behind transit-shed planning is to take the area served by a particular railroad station, and figure out how to maximize transit use while minimizing single occupanncy vehicle use, including parking at the station. This could involve bus service focused during rush hours at getting people to and from the station, car pooling to the station, etc.

An interesting piece of the story is how the systems will open new railroad stations as a way to add parking, but this can have unintended consequences that hurts retail districts in extant communities. Plus, it seems like an incredibly expensive alternative to "transit shed-based planing."

The article has a sidebar listing the various stations, the average number of daily riders, and the number of available parking spaces.

I mention this because one of the biggest criticisms about using the subway system in Fairfax County is "there aren't enough parking spaces." There isn't enough land in the world to create parking spaces cost-effectively every place where people want parking spaces (school, shopping, work, subway station, park, etc.). And building and maintaining parking structures are a cost that should not be borne by a transit system. The solution is to get people to the stations in other ways.

Index Keywords: transit