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FAIRFIELD, Conn. Before the Fairfield Metro train station opened last December, commuters expected that it would put a dent into the towns years-long parking permit list. But the results so far have exceeded expectations. The list today is nearly three-quarters of what it was months ago.
Weve made a lot of progress, I think, in reducing our list, Parking Authority Chairman Mary Kay Frost told the Representative Town Meeting in a report last week.
The Fairfield Center station has 1,128 spaces set aside for commuters. But the Parking Authority keeps 1,800 permits in circulation, because not every permit holder uses his or her space every day. Fairfield Metros 1,000-plus spaces are permitted with a similar system but without as much over-booking.
Existing parkers at the towns other two train stations had the first opportunity to buy Fairfield Metro permits. After the Fairfield and Southport permit holders made their decisions, the Parking Authority turned to its long waiting list. According to Frost, at that point the wait list at Fairfield alone was 4,212. The towns website at the time listed the expected wait at more than seven years.
But with the influx of new spaces, the Parking Authority sent out 1,135 new permit letters to people on the wait list. More than that, in taking its first deep look at the list in years, the Parking Authority realized many people marked down as waiting no longer needed permits. Some had moved to other towns, and some had switched jobs and no longer commuted by train.
There some people who no longer needed them, Frost said. Because by the time their number had come up, they were retired.
In total, Frost says, 2,126 names dropped off the wait list in this way. By the end of the process, the number of waiters at Fairfield Center was as low as 951. Thats a big switch from 4,212, she said.
The list has grown since it bottomed out late last year and now numbers about 1,100. But even more slots are due to open up soon, after the state and the town work out an agreement over spaces on Carter Henry Drive on the south side of the train tracks.
After thats settled we probably will up the number of spaces, Frost said.
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