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Photo: Paul Chinn, The Chronicle
FILE-- A commuter walks to the Coliseum station after finding a space in a BART parking lot in Oakland on Thursday, April 30, 2015. BART officials are looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow prices that increase or decrease depending on demand and using license-plate readers to determine who’s paid for a space and who gets a citation.
lessFILE-- A commuter walks to the Coliseum station after finding a space in a BART parking lot in Oakland on Thursday, April 30, 2015. BART officials are looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow
... more
FILE-- BART shows off one of their new trains to the media at the South Hayward station as seen on Mon. July 23, 2017. BART officials are looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow prices that increase or decrease depending on demand and using license-plate readers to determine who’s paid for a space and who gets a citation.
lessFILE-- BART shows off one of their new trains to the media at the South Hayward station as seen on Mon. July 23, 2017. BART officials are looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow prices that
... more
FILE-- The parking lot on the East side of the Ashby BART station. BART officials are looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow prices that increase or decrease depending on demand and using license-plate readers to determine who’s paid for a space and who gets a citation.
lessFILE-- The parking lot on the East side of the Ashby BART station. BART officials are looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow prices that increase or decrease depending on demand and using
... more
Respect the line. Don't be that person rolling up to the yellow strip and jumping the queue when the train arrives.
Respect the line. Don't be that person rolling up to the yellow strip and jumping the queue when the train arrives.
Do everyone a favor and move the hand-hold straps so they’re not all bunched together. Or, if you're tall enough, switch spots so your shorter commute buddy can use the strap instead.
Do everyone a favor and move the hand-hold straps so they’re not all bunched together. Or, if you're tall enough, switch spots so your shorter commute buddy can use the strap instead.
If you're near the doors and everyone is off-loading,
do the crowd a courtesy and exit too. You're taking up valuable space in the doorway and slowing down the disembarking process. The train won't leave without you; just hop back in when everyone is done exiting.
lessIf you're near the doors and everyone is off-loading,
do the crowd a courtesy and exit too. You're taking up valuable space in the doorway and slowing down the disembarking process. The train won't leave
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On that note, let everyone disembark from the train before pushing your way into the car. It's common courtesy, and it gets everyone on the train faster.
On that note, let everyone disembark from the train before pushing your way into the car. It's common courtesy, and it gets everyone on the train faster.
Move as far in as you can. We know that when you got on there was plenty of space. But the train is going to fill up, so be a good BART citizen and preemptively move away from the doors.
Move as far in as you can. We know that when you got on there was plenty of space. But the train is going to fill up, so be a good BART citizen and preemptively move away from the doors.
Is the train full? Then please take off your backpack/wide purse/yoga mat. You'll save someone room, and you won't have to keep hitting other people with your bag.
Is the train full? Then please take off your backpack/wide purse/yoga mat. You'll save someone room, and you won't have to keep hitting other people with your bag.
Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
Don't put your luggage in front of you if you’re in the four seat-quad. Put it to the side (like this considerate passenger) so someone can take those seats.
Don't put your luggage in front of you if you’re in the four seat-quad. Put it to the side (like this considerate passenger) so someone can take those seats.
When you're riding the escalator, don't forget it's standing on the right and walking on the left. This is an especially important rule on the way down to the platform, when people may be hurrying to catch a train.
lessWhen you're riding the escalator, don't forget it's standing on the right and walking on the left. This is an especially important rule on the way down to the platform, when people may be hurrying to catch a
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Give those headphones a check. Your music might sound great to you, but you don't want those beats escaping into the car. Nothing's more annoying than being subjected to someone else's musical preferences.
Give those headphones a check. Your music might sound great to you, but you don't want those beats escaping into the car. Nothing's more annoying than being subjected to someone else's musical preferences.
Photo: Brand X Pictures, Getty Images
Give your seat up to people who need it. This should go without saying... but we all know it doesn’t.
Give your seat up to people who need it. This should go without saying... but we all know it doesn’t.
Photo: Katy Raddatz, The Chronicle
Always take the seat closer to the window, especially if you're in the four-seater orientation. It's considerate — and you're less likely to be trampled on by someone trying to get to the empty seat.
Always take the seat closer to the window, especially if you're in the four-seater orientation. It's considerate — and you're less likely to be trampled on by someone trying to get to the empty seat.
BART begins search for ways to improve parking in its lots
Commuters who drive to BART stations to catch a train know that finding a parking space is at best a challenge and at worst impossible.
Which has BART officials looking at overhauling their parking policies to allow prices that increase or decrease depending on demand and using license-plate readers to determine who’s paid for a space and who gets a citation.
Parking, which was once free at BART, has been a contentious issue for decades. There are several ways to get a parking spot in a BART lot or garage, and none of them are easy.
“They fill as early as 6 a.m. (at Pittsburg/Bay Point Station),” said Bob Franklin, BART’s manager for customer access and accessibility. “Wait lists (for monthly permits) are in the thousands at every station, and daily parking permits sometimes fill as soon as they’re available, which is two months in advance.”
Most of the agency’s 48,000 spots are first-come, first-served with a daily fee averaging $3. About 8,600 are set aside for those with permits — monthly, daily and long-term — at varying rates.
Something needs to be done to make more spaces available, BART officials agree. Agency officials are suggesting a change in BART’s parking policy.
Among the options being considered is a demand-pricing system that would allow prices to be adjusted up and down to keep some spaces available at busy times and fill them up when demand is low.
For commuters who park in the morning, that would probably mean higher prices on most days. When demand is lighter, however, as it is on Fridays, school vacation weeks or even the summer months, prices could be lower.
Any policy change would take a two-thirds vote of the nine-member Board of Directors.
Franklin raised the idea of demand-based parking at BART’s board meeting Thursday, saying it was time to update the agency’s policy as well as its technology and enforcement strategies. The existing policy, which took demand somewhat into account, allowed parking rates at each station to rise or fall in 50-cent increments depending on the average occupancy of the lots, to a maximum of $3 a day.
But every lot has hit its cap, except for West Oakland, which has none.
“So we no longer have any mechanism to modify demand,” Franklin said.
Although Franklin hasn’t proposed a policy, some directors enthusiastically supported the idea, including Director Rebecca Saltzman.
“I often have people tell me, I’d pay a lot more money if I could just get a spot,” she said.
But at least three directors, all of them representing what Director Joel Keller called “auto-dependent” districts with little public transportation, said their constituents are already paying a lot to commute and don’t really have a way to get to BART except to drive.
“These are working people, mainly middle-income, middle-class,” said Director Debora Allen, of Pleasant Hill. “They’re just trying to get to work, and they can’t afford more.”
Demand-based parking is growing. San Francisco has experimented with the practice at city meters for seven years, and recently decided to spread the practice citywide.
Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan
