PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — SEPTA says hardly anyone is parking in its garages, so it’s cutting the cost in half to try to lure riders in.
From now until the end of the year, it will cost only $2 a day to park in SEPTA’s Frankford, Lansdale and Norristown garages, rather than $4.
“It’s a rare thing that SEPTA will cut prices,” said SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch, “but we think that in this case that it’s the right thing to do.”
Busch said those garages are only an average of 5% to 10% full on weekdays, with most riders choosing streets and surface lots.
“We’re not sure if it’s a reluctance to park in the garages for some reason, or when we increased the price from $2 to $4, that’s a barrier,” Busch said.
That reluctance may involve more than price, though.
“We have heard from some folks, particularly at Frankford Transportation Center, that they were concerned about safety there, which is why we’ve done a lot of upgrades there,” Busch said, like the addition of blind spot mirrors.
Last June, police increased patrols at SEPTA’s Lansdale garage after reports that it had become a teen hangout.
SEPTA raised the garage parking price from $2 to $4 two years ago. Busch said the $2 garage parking price will be reevaluated after December.
