BART parking permits no longer ‘like gold.’
They were once a coveted item, but now the waiting list has shrunk by 25,000
For more than 15 years, the BART parking permit that hung from the rearview mirror of Mark Spencer’s car was “like gold,” he said. The tag guaranteed Spencer a parking space at the Fremont station as part of his daily commute to a downtown Oakland office — a coveted privilege when nearly 40,000 riders sat on waiting lists for permits throughout the system.
But last fall, as the pandemic dragged on, Spencer joined thousands of commuters in doing the once-unthinkable. He gave up the permit, no longer willing to pay $105 per month for a parking space he didn’t need while he worked from home for the foreseeable future.
“I waited as long as I could,” he said. “They had to pry it out of my hands.”
Before the coronavirus pandemic, BART’s monthly parking permits were like dynasty-era Warriors tickets. They already were priced at a premium over the $3 daily parking fee at most stations — and agency
leaders were considering hiking the prices further — but there was no shortage of demand.
“I didn’t have to be there at 7 in the morning to get a spot, or I didn’t have to find a spot in someone’s neighborhood and hike back to the BART station,” Spencer said. “The convenience factor was worth whatever it cost.”
My, have times changed. According to BART, the number of monthly parking
permit holders systemwide has fallen from about 6,600 last March to 4,200 now. The waitlist has shrunk, too — by 25,000 people.
The decline has come as BART ridership languishes at less than 15% of pre-pandemic levels. Though the system served more than 40,000 weekday passengers in January, a substantial share of riders like Spencer haven’t been traveling to work for nearly a year, and it’s unclear when, or if, they
will go back to their regular commutes after the threat of COVID-19 subsides.
In the early months of the pandemic, BART refunded permit holders the cost of their monthly pass. But the refunds stopped in August. If riders wanted to keep their spots, they’d have to pay for them, even if their commute no longer required leaving home.
By that point, the traffic engineering office Spencer manages had moved, leaving a location steps from the 19th Street station for a cheaper space in Oakland far from BART. Even after the pandemic subsides, his company plans to keep a flexible policy allowing people to split their time between working from home and the office.
“I couldn’t justify keeping the parking pass at that point,” Spencer said.
Demand for the passes hasn’t totally dried up, with just under 15,000 people still on waitlists at 11 popular stations. The West Dublin/Pleasanton stop has the longest line, at 2,690 people, and the list tops 2,000 people at the Walnut Creek, Orinda and Lafayette stations.
The good news for Spencer if he decides he wants a permit again: There’s no wait for one these days at the Fremont station.