Officials hope to ease local parking squeeze
New permit policy at NJ Transit lots raises fears among commuters
BY MARLENE CANTY
Staff Writer

OLD BRIDGE - A general shortage of commuter parking spaces in the township has officials and commuters concerned.

While 1,800 parking permits were issued by the township to residents for the year, only 900 parking spaces are available at the Old Bridge park-and-ride at Route 9 and Ernston Road and other Old Bridge lots combined, according to Township Councilman G. Kevin Calogera.

Mayor Jim Phillips said residents pay $25 per year for the parking permits, which allow them to use any of the Old Bridge lots, including $1-a-day pay lots at the park-and-ride or at Inverness Drive.

There is free parking at two other lots - one at the Knights of Columbus on Route 9 and the other constructed by John Brunetti Associates at Cheesequake Farm in a lot leased to the town, according to Calogera. The Knights of Columbus lot is free now, but will soon be a pay lot as well.

The mayor said the free lots may not be as convenient for commuters as the other lots or may not be paved.

The shortage of parking is being caused in part by rapid development that has outpaced the town's ability to construct new lots.

Phillips said that when he took office in 2004 the Inverness lot, which was newly constructed, had trouble filling a fraction of its 287 spaces. Today the lot's first-come, first-served policy has morning commuters scrambling for spaces.

According to Calogera, a short-term solution may be to assign commuters their own specific parking spaces in the park-and-ride lots and have the overage use adjacent NJ Transit daily lots.

Some local residents balk at that idea for two reasons, however - assigned spaces would sit vacant at times when the commuter is absent; and many feel it is inevitable that a rushing commuter will take whatever spot is empty. If it is a spot assigned to someone else, even if the spot has been sitting vacant for a week, an unassigned vehicle in the spot could result in a tow and ticket.

But the NJ Transit lots that have in the past often absorbed some of the overflow could, instead of being part of the solution, become part of the problem. In a customer notice recently distributed by Park America, the management company for the NJ Transit lots, commuters were advised that as of Jan. 1, three daily parking lots will become permit-only, with only one remaining a daily lot. The notice reads in part:

"... Parking fees have not increased at this facility since 1993. Since that time, expenses associated with parking operations have increased, including the cost of insurance, maintenance, snow removal and utilities."

The notice goes on to say that parking lots A, B and D will be permit-only, while lot C alone will offer daily parking, with the rate there rising from $1 to $2. Quarterly parking permits will be issued for the other three lots at $75 per quarter.

Some worry that the increase in permit-only parking could exacerbate parking shortages for Old Bridge commuters and others competing for limited spaces.

According to Dan Stessel, spokesman for NJ Transit, the three permit-only lots have a combined total of 316 spaces; and the first 316 commuters who apply for permits will get them no matter what town they are from.

"Once a commuter gets a permit, all they have to do is renew it every three months," Stessel said.

Stephen Giannetto, a Sayreville commuter who uses the Old Bridge NJ Transit lots, opposes the price increase and has concerns about the new system.

"People from Lakewood, Freehold, anywhere along the Route 9 corridor can apply for a permit to use the Old Bridge NJ Transit park-and-ride lots," Giannetto said.

According to the plan going into effect in January, anyone who misses out on the initial assignment of permits for the 316 available spaces might never get the chance to park in the permit-only lots.

"As a resident of Sayreville, my only parking option come Jan. 1 could be that one surviving NJ Transit daily lot, and that lot is usually full by 7:45 a.m.," Giannetto said.

In addition, as daily parking goes up to $2 a day, commuters feel that unless they are one of the lucky 316 with a permit they will have fewer options, at double the price.

As a local commuter who is not an Old Bridge resident, Giannetto's dilemma, along with that of commuters from other local towns, compounds the already severe local parking shortage.

As the number of permit-only NJ Transit lots increases, so will the number of commuters from towns outside the Old Bridge area, leaving Old Bridge commuters who are unable to find a spot at a township-operated lot in even keener competition for the spaces.

According to Calogera, if NJ Transit institutes its increased permit-only parking plans, it may become necessary for Old Bridge officials to consider designating a portion of the NJ Transit permit lots exclusively to Old Bridge residents to help alleviate some of the local parking shortages, at least for the time being. Other short-term solutions being explored involve partnering with local businesses to allow commuters to park in their lots.

In trying to expand parking facilities, the township is conducting environmental studies to determine the feasibility of using part of the old Nike Missile Base near Jake Brown Road as a parking facility.

"What's the point of the state building bus shoulder lanes and encouraging commuters to use mass transit instead of driving, if there is nowhere for those commuters to park?" Calogera asked.

For the long term, Old Bridge is conferring with the state, the Board of Education, local businesses and NJ Transit as it looks for partners in providing new commuter lots along the Route 9 corridor, Phillips said.

Stessel said he would encourage commuters to contact Park America at 1-800-523-1026 as soon as possible to get their permit applications in.

NJ Transit provides more details about the Jan. 1 changes and the process of applying for a permit on its Web site at NJTransit.com.