Parking a pain at BART; officials considering having morning riders pay more

PITTSBURG, Calif. - Trying to find a parking spot at BART stations leaves commuters frustrated before boarding, prompting leaders to look for ways to improve its parking lots.

It appears the appears the further east in the Bay Area you are, the harder it is to find a spot. That’s because people don’t live close enough to walk or take public transportation to BART.

BART’s customer access manager says the wait lists for monthly permits for reserved spots are in the thousands at every BART station.
 
At BART’s board meeting Thursday morning, officials are considering adjusting how much riders should pay to park depending on the time they show up to the station.

For morning commuters, this could mean paying more, and and when demand is lower on Fridays or summer months, prices may be lowered.

But director Debora Allen says charging the morning commuters more could hurt working class riders who may not be able to afford the increased prices.

BART may also decide to use license-plate readers to see who paid for a space and cite those who did not.