Station Parking and Transit-Oriented Design

A simple analysis framework is presented to assist transit agencies and station-area communities in making informed planning decisions regarding the highest and best use of parking areas at suburban transit stations. The framework provides the flexibility to tailor values to local settings. The success of high-capacity transit systems depends on well-located and -designed stations. Outside regional commercial business districts, the most favored means of access to transit stations often is a park-and-ride facility. Many suburban station locations have reached full use of limited parking resources, and parking capacity has begun to limit opportunities to increase rail transit ridership. Thus, these major cost transit investments are not fulfilling their full potential as a result of constrained access capacity. Also, many station communities increasingly have been pressuring transit agencies to convert some station patron parking to transit-oriented development (TOD) uses, and some nearby private parking lots have been lost to TOD. Thus, station parking is not only limited but also under pressure for reduction. Little information exists to help transit agencies and local communities understand the highest and best use of limited station site resources. A simple spreadsheet analysis framework is presented to help transit agencies and local communities make informed decisions regarding parking and TOD. This suggested analysis framework focuses on the rail transit ridership implications of parking versus TOD and on the cost of station parking.