Sound Transit is considering offering reserved parking permits at its busiest facilities to frequent transit riders, including at Kent Station.
The aim is to make limited parking resources more efficient while providing guaranteed spots to regular riders and those who frequently carpool to the park-and-ride lots, according to a Sound Transit media release.
Sound Transit tested permits during a 2014 pilot project and is now seeking input on the next steps toward making the program permanent at 10 of its busiest locations.
Detailed information and a link to a survey about the program is available at: soundtransit.org/permitparking.
Information gathered through the survey and other means will be presented to the Sound Transit Board this fall as it considers implementing the program.
The permits could be available to those who carpool to transit lots as early as mid-2016 and then available to solo drivers by late 2016 or early 2017.
Here’s how the permits may work:
• Transit customers must have and use a valid ORCA card to apply for a permit
• Permit parking would be reserved for permit holders until 9:30 a.m. Monday through Friday
• On weekends and after 9:30 a.m. on weekdays, transit riders would be able to park in permit spaces without a permit
• Permits would be offered on a first-come, first-served basis
• Permits would be reviewed and renewed quarterly or semi-annually
• Renewal would require the permit holder’s ORCA records to show they rode transit at least three times per week during the previous permit term
• Flexibility will be allowed for time away (such as vacation)
• Carpool permit holders must arrive with at least two transit riders in the permitted vehicle
• At least 50 percent of parking spaces at each location would remain free and available for transit riders on a first-come, first-served basis
Potential locations for the permit program could include:
• Angle Lake Station (light rail, opening 2016)
• Auburn Station
• Federal Way Transit Center
• Issaquah Transit Center
• Kent Station
• Mercer Island Park-and-Ride
• Overlake Transit Center
• Puyallup Station
• Sumner Station
• Tukwila International Boulevard Station (light rail)
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