Naperville should transition all its commuter railway parking to daily fee and eliminate the quarterly permit program so spaces can be freed up for people who take the train to work or on the weekend, city staff is recommending.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed how often people commute, which had a dramatic effect on the city’s Route 59 rail station lot and the lots near the Naperville station on East Fourth Avenue, Jennifer Louden, deputy director of Transportation, Engineering and Development, said in a memo to the Naperville City Council.
The plan is to place all commuter parking spaces under the same daily fee structure starting in July, after the council signs off on ordinance changes and notifies Metra and BNSF.
In addition to the shift to daily fees, staff would stop issuing new permits for the Route 59 lot immediately and eliminate the wait lists for permits at the Burlington and Kroehler lots near the Naperville station.
Quarterly permits would be discontinued Dec. 31, allowing permit holders enough notice to adjust to the new program, Louden said.
The estimated cost to modify the signage to reflect the parking changes is $5,000 and $10,000.
Louden said those expenses would be offset by the savings from no longer having to routinely mark space numbers on the parking lot pavement.
All revenues and costs associated with the commuter programs will be part of the city’s ongoing evaluation.
The council is expected to discuss the changes at its 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at the Naperville Municipal Center.
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Parking issues have plagued Naperville for years.
Before the pandemic, the city was working to address problems with the quarterly permit program, such as commuters often waiting up to seven years on a list to get a parking permit.
That situation generated an underground market of people subletting their permit spaces to others, prompting the city to crack down by requiring permit holders to provide vehicle registration information at renewal time.
That all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work and commuting patterns and ridership plummeted 97%, according to Metra figures.
While the number of riders has grown in the past three years, Metra saw distinct differences on when people were using the rail service.
Last month Metra announced a new strategic plan to focus efforts on a regional rail service model that includes more off-peak and weekend offerings to adapt to the emerging changes in ridership patterns.
Before the pandemic, Metra’s primary function was to provide service to workers riding trains between the suburbs and Chicago during peak commuting hours.
Now Metra is seeing stronger growth in off-peak and weekend trips compared to traditional peak-hour commutes.
Along the BNSF rail line, ridership during peak hours in January was 45% of the ridership in January 2019 while midday ridership was 57% and Saturday and Sunday ridership were 67% and 61%, respectively, according to a Metra report.
A commuter survey conducted by the city last year shows the ability to work remotely is the biggest factor in determining future commuting patterns and 71% of respondents said their commute has stabilized.
Of the respondents, 22% said they use Metra four or more days per week and 55% said they use Metra one to three days per week.
In the last few months, city figures show more than 75% of the daily fee spaces are consistently occupied at the Naperville station compared to 30% of permit spaces.
At the Route 59 station, more than half the daily spots are in use on a regular basis versus 13% of the permit spaces.
Part of the disparity is because many quarterly permit holders are canceling their permits.
The number of active permits at the Route 59 station in February plummeted to 329 from 1,090 in February 2020.
At the permit lots near the Naperville station, the number of permits dropped from 1,389 in February 2020 to 1,003 in February of this year.
Louden said daily fee parking not only provides fair privileges to all commuters on a first-come, first-served basis but allows people to only pay for days they need to commute.
It also frees up underutilized permit spaces that remain empty but unavailable to most commuters, she said.