Jake: What?! Sound Transit wants you to pay for something that was free

Add this to the long list of Sound Transit grievances, but it’s one that caught my eye. KIRO Newsradio Traffic Reporter Chris Sullivan wrote a great piece on this with more detail. I’d recommend reading it. My reaction when I first saw the news? Disbelief.

Sound Transit is rolling out a new parking permit program at its crowded light rail garages. Those garages — notorious for filling up early because they were never built with enough capacity — will now have 25% of their spaces reserved and sold as permits.

I’ve purchased parking permits before. I have no issue with the concept. My issue is that those spots were free just days ago, used by actual light rail riders. And Sound Transit, an agency desperately trying to get people on the train, is now going to charge those same people for the same spots.

Their stated justification? Riders will benefit by not having to leave home so early, knowing a space is waiting for them. A more relaxed morning, coffee in hand.

I don’t buy it. Those spots weren’t sitting empty before. Someone was using them. So yes, one commuter gets a leisurely start, while another, the early bird who wanted to catch the 7 a.m. train, now finds that 25% of the lot is off-limits unless they pay.

Follow the money

My suspicion — and yes, this reflects my thoroughly cynical view of Sound Transit — is that the real reason has nothing to do with commuter comfort. I think it’s about revenue.

Sound Transit is in the hole to the tune of $35 billion. They need money, and they’re afraid of the pitchfork response that would come from going back to voters yet again. So why not quietly test parking fees? Start small, see what the market bears, and grow from there.

I also wonder if they looked across Lake Washington — like Sauron’s eye sweeping toward Mordor — at the HOT lanes on I-405 and State Route 167, watched those toll revenues roll in, and thought: that’s the model. Take something that used to be free, start charging for it, and watch costs climb as “demand requires it.”

And here’s the kicker: those garages were never actually free. Taxpayers have been funding them for decades. Yet Sound Transit still claims it’s underfunded and needs more.

Don’t forget who gets left behind

Nowhere in Sound Transit’s announcement was there any acknowledgment of what this means for riders who can’t afford it.

I see this dynamic play out every time I drive on I-405. Look at the cars in the toll lanes — they tend to be nice ones. That’s not class envy. People are using a lane available to them, and I don’t begrudge them for it. But those lanes are genuinely cost-prohibitive for most commuters.

It doesn’t take much imagination to see the same thing happening at these garages. The people who can afford a reserved spot get a relaxed morning. The people who can’t have to leave earlier, squeeze into whatever’s left, and give up a little more of their day — because 25% of the parking that was available to everyone yesterday is now available only to those willing to pay.

I don’t like it.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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