According to Lancaster On Line “Amtrak vendor floats charging more for parking at Lancaster station
“Citing ‘the captive audience that is found in this area,’ Chicago-based Standard Parking, Amtrak’s new parking vendor at the Lancaster station, has proposed raising the rate for all-day parking on weekdays and weekends to $6 per day, up from the current $5 per day…
“Other changes Standard Parking included in its proposal include adding:
▪ Monthly parking for $100.
▪ Preferred daily parking in a reserved portion of the lot for $8 per day.
▪ Preferred monthly parking for $120 per month.
A rate for 18-to-24-hour parking. The rate is not specified, but the duration is meant to accommodate passengers traveling to and from New York City.”
Had not NewsLanc intervened with the parking designers concerning the foolish original plan for revamping station parking, the circumstances today would be much worse.
But there is an easy and not very costly solution to the parking scarcity, one that would contribute far more for the future of the community that the $200 million recently sunk into the Convention Center Project.
Just across the far tracks is eleven acres of undeveloped land as a result of the demolition of a hotel A parking garage built on an acre of that ground could readily be linked by a short tunnel to the Amtrak station. This added parking would not only relieve the current and future shortage, but the benefits to the railroad would encourage relocation of families from the Greater Philadelphia area to Lancaster City and County.
It would also generate local jobs due to additional consumer demand and the likelihood of over time the development of small tech centers, per the recent national trend.
This is a slam dunk. But the parking garage location is in Manheim Township, not the City of Lancaster. So this must be a regional undertaking.
The County Commissioners need to become involved.
Taxpayers already provide too much of a subsidy for Amtrak riders. If you want to ride the train to Philly or Harrisburg, pay your own way and that includes parking. Stop expecting the majority of people, who never use Amtrak, to provide you with a big discount on your travel to and from work in Philly or Harrisburg.
EDITOR: Is the writer certain that the Patriot Line requires subsidy? Or is all those lines serving areas of far less demand that are running up Amtrak’s losses? That is our impression from what we have read in the past.
Also, aren’t there a lot of environmental ‘savings’ from commuters using rail rather than driving?