Metro Parking Under-Used in Montgomery County
Eight of the county's Metro stations have more than 15,000 parking spaces.
Most Metro commuters know a few tricks of the trade when it comes to parking.
At many stations, if you arrive too late in the morning, you may just be out of luck when it comes to snagging a space.
But it turns out there are more than enough parking spaces available to Metro riders at stations in Montgomery County. Some stations, though, are more popular for parkers than others, according to data released to Patch by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Of the 13,884 parking spaces at eight Montgomery County Metro stations, only 82 percent were used on an average weekday in August 2011, the last time WMATA collected data on parking usage. A new 1,200-space parking garage at the Glenmont metro station, which opened in April, has increased the parking capacity of the Montgomery County stations to more than 15,000 spaces.
The Rockville Metro station, with only 524 available parking spots, clocked the highest percentage of spots used, with 102 percent of the lot full on an average weekday. Metro spokesman Philip Stewart explained this statistic reflects the turnover in spaces throughout the day.
At the lowest end of the spectrum, only 45 percent of White Flint's 1,270 spaces were full on an average weekday.
| Metro Station | Parking Capacity | Average Weekday Usage (Percentage of Capacity) |
| Grovsenor | 1894 | 91 |
| White Flint | 1270 | 45 |
| Twinbrook | 1097 | 65 |
| Rockville | 524 | 102 |
| Shady Grove | 5745 | 88 |
| Glenmont | 1781 | 100 |
| Wheaton | 977 | 44 |
| Forest Glen | 596 | 98 |
| Total | 13884 | 82 |
This table reflects parking capacity and usage as of August 2011.
The parking expansion at the Glenmont station, which increased parking capacity to 3,000 spaces in April, is the most recent addition of new spaces in the metro system.
Stewart also confirmed no new parking garage capacity expansions are being planned, studied or funded by WMATA at this time.
Lezlie Crosswhite
11:24 pm on Friday, June 8, 2012
Ever since last summer, I can always find a parking spot at the Shady Grove Metro lots, no matter the time of day.
It's pretty obvious the reason is the fare increases. The fare increase last year and the hefty parking fee clearly sent a lot of folks back to commuting in their cars.
tfm
2:31 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
The combination of Metro fares plus parking is prohibitive to many users. Those who can bus do, or are dropped off by a family members. Others have simply given up and joined the congestion because it is no more expensive than Metro's alternative.