MBTA Struggles to Furnish Parking for Commuters

"The struggle to find parking [at MBTA stations] is discouraging some commuters from using public transit," according to an article by Nicole Dunga.

Dunga shares the statistics at the center of the problem: "As of late January, the T owned nearly 49,600 parking spots across the state, compared to the nearly 1.3 million rides it provides on a typical weekday. While it is difficult to know exactly how many parking spaces are needed by commuters, it is clear to some of them that the demand outpaces supply at several stations."

Despite the addition of three new parking structures at stations in the system, parking is still scarce throughout the system and one station, Quincy Center, had to permanently shut its parking garage in 2012 because of structural damage.

Dunga also quotes UCLA Professor Donald Shoup to explain the potential impacts of parking shortages on a transit system. According to Shoup, "[it's] terrible to have a full parking lot determine the success of a transit system and the value of using transit."

Similar parking shortages have been reported at suburban stations of the BART system in the San Francisco Bay Area. A one dollar fee for parking was recently implemented at some stations that had been free since the system opened in 1972.