How many of those hard-to-come-by spots at DART parking lots are being used by residents of cities that don’t belong to DART? Lots and lots.
More on that on the jump, but first, one tidbit about the pay-to-park story that we left out of our coverage here and in print yesterday and this morning deals with the city of Plano.
Plano, whose crowded Parker Road Station is shown above, came up with the idea of charging for parking, and in particular the idea of charging drivers from cities that are not members of DART, last year, when it was proposing to build a pay lot next to the crowded lots at Parker Road Station. The idea was that the lot could offer reserved or premium spots — perhaps with cover — and perhaps charge for those spots. The other spots would be free, except for drivers who come from cities north Plano, say, or others that are among the 13 members of DART.
DART was nonplussed at the time, and said it didn’t have the money to help develop the lot, which to be fair to DART Plano had only promised to use for a parking lot for few years, until it decided to develop it in some other way.