CHICAGO — Metra plans to add 2,800 parking spaces to commuter rail stations, where lots often fill up early in the morning with the more than half of rail commuters who drive to the train, according to the Chicago Tribune.
But as the commuter rail service tries to alleviate the parking shortage, it also has focused on marketing its services to the growing number of residents in the new developments springing up close to train stations.
“Eighty-two percent of Metra riders who live within a half-mile of their station walk to the train,” said Patrick McAtee, Metra’s senior director of planning, real estate and development. “We’ve dubbed the recent increases in housing development near train stations our `secret parking spaces.”‘
The number of households within a half-mile of Metra stations increased 52 percent in Schaumburg, 47 percent around the Davis Street station in Evanston and 39 percent in Aurora between 1989 and 1999, according to a recent Metra study.
“We’ll continue to have more walkers as transit-oriented development increases. It’s going to help reduce the need for future parking,” McAtee said.
He said that 35 percent of the residents at the new Glen of North Glenview development on the site of the former Glenview Naval Air Station regularly use the nearby station on Metra’s Milwaukee District North Line.
Overall, between 5 and 25 percent of suburban residents who live within a half-mile of Metra stations currently ride the train on weekdays, depending on the specific location. The vast majority of suburban commuters get to work by car.
Metra officials project that if they could increase ridership to 33 percent of all commuters within a half-mile of train stations, 2,000 fewer new parking spaces would be needed. Raising the total to 50 percent would result in the need for 3,100 fewer additional parking spaces.
McAtee said that with land acquisition and construction costs, Metra spends an average of $5,500 to create each parking space.
“Over 20 years, Metra would save $17 million in parking construction costs and the land could be made available for other uses, such as green space,” McAtee said.
Historically, Metra’s success in increasing ridership has been linked in large measure to how many parking spaces it can provide. The rail service plans to build an additional 14,100 spaces through 2006 with a goal of reaching a total of 98,300 parking spaces by 2010, up from 77,364 spaces in 2001.
Systemwide, 88 percent of Metra’s parking spaces are used on an average weekday, though many lots fill up early in the morning rush period.
The 2,800 new parking spaces slated for construction this year involve about 20 separate projects that were announced by Metra officials Friday. Some 900 existing parking spaces will also be improved.
The projects include a new station and five-level parking garage in Palatine providing 850 spaces reserved for commuters on Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line. The mixed-use Gateway Center development features residential units and office and retail spaces near the sixth busiest station in the Metra system. The garage will house a total of 1,250 spaces.
In addition, some 480 new spaces serving Calumet and Hazel Crest riders on the Metra Electric line will be built.
Metra also plans to add 500 parking spaces by 2003 at the Palos station on Metra’s SouthWest Service. Eventually 1,100 spaces will be provided.
Among projects planned for the future are 400-space facilities–expanding to 1,600 parking spaces–at the Prairie Crossing development in Lake County served by Metra’s North-Central Service and Milwaukee District North Line trains. The project is designed to serve the residents of more than 360 town homes and single-family residences being constructed in the Grayslake and Libertyville areas.
Up to 1,700 parking spaces are eventually planned for Metra’s new station on Pingree Road in Crystal Lake on the Union Pacific Northwest Line. Construction is scheduled to start this summer on the $7 million station, which will open in 2003 with an initial 400 parking spaces.
More than 1,000 parking spaces will be replaced at the Arlington Park station on the Northwest Line, and improvements will be made for access to the station and parking lot from Wilke Road.
McAtee said 56 percent of all Metra customers use the park-and-ride facilities. Nearly all of them drive alone in their cars, while 4 percent car-pool to the stations. He said 23 percent of Metra commuters walk to their train stations, 13 percent are dropped off by another driver and only 4 percent make the trip by bus.
Last year, there were 51 bus routes, most of them operated by Pace, that serve Metra stations. The number has plummeted from 85 routes in 1990. As a result, the average weekday bus ridership to Metra stations was only 4,267 in 2001, down from 6,706 in 1990, records indicate.
The Regional Transportation Authority recently authorized a bus-to-rail study to determine how to make the bus service to train stations more attractive and economical.