Seattle Times (RVP news partner):
When light rail opened in Seattle last summer, it put a Safeway grocery store in a bit of a bind.
On the plus side, the Othello train station brought new energy to the block — enough so that Safeway reversed plans to close its store, instead starting a $3 million remodel.
But Safeway had to hire parking monitors to keep train commuters from leaving their cars all day in the store’s free parking lot.
So someone came up with a resourceful solution: Why not sell $30 monthly parking passes to light-rail users? The store has extra space in its lot on weekdays. It could use the money to help pay those parking attendants. And it would be a low-cost community service for folks who want to get out of their cars but live too far to walk to the station.
Winner all the way around, right? Best of all, no taxpayer green required.
The parking passes quickly sold out.
Then the city of Seattle called. Read more.
Photo/do communications, inc.
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{ 30 comments }
Great article! I’d love to use the light rail to go downtown, but it is to far of a walk from my residence to a station, especially in the rain. There’s also nowhwere to park. Hundreds of people have brought this issue up to the city and light rail designers but nobody is acting on the issue. There should be free park and rides nearby.
I learned at city hall today Mayor Nickels opposed all parking lots and wanted everyone out of their cars. Also, old city codes don’t allow for paid parking lots along the light rail line.
It sure would be nice to get some proactive leadership to make changes for the future! After all, wouldn’t it be better all the way around if people only drove 1-2 miles vs. 12 miles per day? It would still reduce the carbon footprint and the amount of time people spent in cars.
SSSL
“…but if a private landowner wants to set up a park and ride at his own expense — on land that is already a parking lot — shouldn’t we be cheering them on? Not sending cease-and-desist letters?”
As if our local government is interested in preserving private property rights — LOL! They want the land to be dispersed amongst everyone, so that private property exists no more. The socialists/fascists/communists that abound in this area have their plans and they continually try to paint it into a pretty picture.
Seriously, it would be nice if people who throw words like “socialists/fascists/communists” around actually knew what the words meant. Not only does it make mature conversation impossible, it’s an insult to the men and women who have died in the service of this nation so that we can have free speech.
Socialism, Facism, and Communism are three distinctly different political philosophies. Anyone with a high school education and a casual knowledge of 20th century history should know that.
As for park ‘n rides in the city, I see no reason why they can’t exist until market forces makes them impractical. Much like we’re seeing with big grocery stores with abundant surface parking in the denser neighborhoods. Failing that, I would like to see feeder routes to the link stations.
I remember one particular meeting about the proposed bus service cuts. An elderly man with a cane complained that the cuts would be tough for the elderly and disabled walking is such a struggle. An arrogant young government employee had the audacity to say “We all need more exercise.” That’s a perfect example of the problem. Arrogant employees tell the residents of the City what the residents need. We have been told that we don’t need cars.
@Greener
In the same way we’ve been told we don’t need cigarettes.
Nudged in the right direction by higher taxes, higher insurance premiums and (yucky!) banishment from bars; and anywhere within 25 ft of anywhere.
Me not like the nanny state, but we do need fewer smokes, more excercise, less carbon, fewer pesticides, etc. We just don’t like being told what to do.
I’m willing to fight for either side, or both at once.
The populace is left to finish the work which the Mayor did not do…
The mayor started it, afters so many others couldn’t or wouldn’t.
We may not finish, but let’s carry on.
I’m giddy, aren’t you? Let’s ride, to the university and beyond!
“afters”? I’ll have to have my people check on that one.
We may have to alter the Oxford to allow that.
We can alter anything. Orwell was right.
Some people are not able to walk long distances, and it isn’t a matter of needing more exercise! Blithely dismissing the needs of anyone with physical limitations shows a real lack of empathy.
Amen……and with all of the public transit assaults/robberies lately, who would want to walk on unsafe, underlit streets……?
SSSL
We need more bus runs (a feeder or circulator preferably) and better lighting and shelter. The 40-60 minutes between buses at Columbia City, Othello, and Henderson is just too long. Beacon Hill station with the frequent 36 has a constant stream of passengers.
I wouldn’t leave my car at any of these lots. Replace a window every time, because a young punk needs to steal my homemade cds of music from before they were born?
@Anne
I’d steal the Ramones, and the Clash.
What do you drive, punk?
Concur with your thoughts Anne…..but I also think if the city invested in Park and Rides it would be cheaper to provide security at the lots than to prosecute all the criminals who are arrested for mugging people on winter nights as they walk home.
SSSL
“Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect
liberty when the Government’s purposes are beneficent. Men born
to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty
by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in
insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without
understanding.”
Justice Louis D. Brandeis
US Supreme Court Justice 1928
I agree Tom, but I assume by Government you mean any group that would attempt to take control of your life or mine; not neccesarily the elected Government. I’ll keep watch.
@bien
Now I’ll have to lock them in the glove compartment! Though much of the time it’s the Mothership Connection.
@Anne
We want the funk, and so do they.
Give up the funk, Ow.
I called the city and talked about this problem and directed them to this website. I also wrote to our new mayor about the ridiculousness of this problem. the louder we yell the quicker they will do something about it.
Mayor MG was on KUOW this morning. He thinks more bus links will solve the problem. I didn’t see him doing anything to help with parking at this point in time.
I like the transit solution better than encouraging more car usage. He we all have to live together here, and I for one would like to have fewer cars on the road. It is healthier for everyone.
I prefer to have a farmer’s market in Columbia City rather than a monthly pay lot. This helps our neighborhood have access to fresh produce. Every day produce sits in a truck traveling to your local grocery it loses nutritional value and flavor. Having access to just harvested food is important to our health as a community.
I drive, probably too much. I would love better access to the light rail. My route (39) decreased hours instead of morphing into the 50 (bus every 10 to 15 minutes looping between stations. This kind of transit solution ( like the planned 50) would help people with disabilities, seniors, and families with small children use the light rail.
Change is not going to be immediate. We will have to make changes (big and little) through time to make it work for as many people as possible. I have lived in SE Seattle for over 20 years. This is a vastly different place than it was even 10 years ago. There have been positive and negative changes (I still miss Chubby and Tubby!), but I think we are moving in the right direction.
The Mayor has a well meaning, anticar zeal that doesn’t have any reasonableness about it.
Check out the comments on SeattleTransitBlog (which does seem to be reasonable, http://seattletransitblog.com/2010/01/07/city-goes-after-private-park-and-rides/#comment-96504) and Publicola (http://publicola.net/?p=22342) to understand my way or the bikeway mentality among the converted in Seattle.
“I like the transit solution better than encouraging more car usage.”
But this solution does encourage more car usage, I know a lot of people who used to take public transit that are now back to driving.
Have any of these people ever stepped foot in South Seattle? You know.. outside of the nice block. Either way, they have a seriously distorted sense of reality if they think I’m going to voluntarily lengthen my commute to work or sacrifice my personal safety just to avoid using my car. Taking away a parking lot isn’t going to get anyone to stop driving to work. In fact, I’m driving to work again. It sure beats getting mugged both -on- and off the bus!
Thats what I’m talking about, this will discourage ridership.
Hmmm….underground parking with farmer’s market on surface level?
Can’t afford it – we won’t gentrify.
Look. It’s all a matter of time and money. Yesterday evening I took two teenage girls down to Seattle Center for a play at the Children’s Theater. I drove—20 minutes each way via 99 and paid $7.00 to park (about what it would have cost to take a combination of bus/train/bus roundtrip; Monorail—much cooler, safer and faster—would have added$12.00 to the cost of the trip). Getting from our houses near Seward Park to the Othello Station without a car would be dangerous and very wet on foot, or time consuming via the 39. Getting home at 8P would be worse.
South Seattle is not an urban village. It’s the outlying part of a vibrant city and many people need to access that city by car. There are plenty of people like me who do not have the luxury of excess time to spend being politically correct and taking public transit (even if it were safe).
My husband commutes downtown by bus, but he doesn’t have to make dinner or get our daughter off to school, so the 45-60 minute trip is a nice way to relax. I work at home (the best way to avoid a daily commute). The idealists who believe we will all give up our cards for long and unsafe transit rides are kidding themselves. Make Seattle even more difficult for drivers who want their kids to be able to take advantage of all the fabulous opportunities the city has to offer and families will continue to flee this city even more than they already have.
And as for the comment about the farmers’ market. I’m glad you can afford to shop there, because I can’t. I grow my own instead.
Per the Seattle PI tonight, it looks like McGinn is taking the reasonable road on this one. http://blog.seattlepi.com/seattlepolitics/archives/190772.asp
Nice to see that he heard us! Let’s hope for as much progress on crime issues.
It was on King 5 news at 6:30 as well…….they did a great story on the need for Park and Rides in SE Seattle. Looks like the word is getting out……ridership is dropping on light rail.
One item King 5 news covered which raised my eyebrows was that SHA wanted to start renting parking spaces with the land taxpayers paid for…..
SSSL
yay! they listened!
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