Not all park and ride lots allow carpools

Security at the South Everett Freeway Station on I-5 at 112th Street have been cracking down lately on those looking to park and ride — in their own vehicles, that is.

The extra enforcement has surprised many folks who had assumed privately arranged carpools could use the lot. Turns out, that’s not the case — at least not there.

Different park and ride lots in Snohomish County are owned or operated by different agencies, which have different rules, often driven by capacity issues. The South Everett Freeway Station is operated by Sound Transit.

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“The parking policy at all Sound Transit park and rides boils down to this — the lots are only for transit users. That includes bus riders or those using transit-provided vanpool vehicles,” said Bruce Gray, Sound Transit spokesperson. “The South Everett Freeway Station has been at or near capacity since it opened, and we frequently hear from people who want to take the bus from that location but have trouble finding parking. We periodically do ‘emphasis patrols’ where our folks go to all of our facilities to monitor their usage and remind folks of the rules, which are also posted at all of our lots.”

The lot has 397 spaces and is at capacity.

One of the most recent “emphasis patrols” resulted in contacts with 60 people meeting for carpools in private vehicles. They were asked to leave and advised they’d be towed next time.

“That’s a lot of spaces that could be used for bus riders. The officers estimated that there were an additional 30 drivers who saw the security officers and left without parking,” Gray added.

There is some flexibility. Sound Transit lots with excess space allow carpoolers to park in designated areas. The Eastmont Park and Ride, near the Highway 527 and I-5 interchange, is one of those lots.

“But again, if we start to see that lot filling to the point where transit users can’t find a place to park, we’ll ask carpoolers to find somewhere else,” Gray said.

Everett Station, operated by Everett Transit, and all Community Transit park and ride lots are open to carpoolers. It’s first come, first served, and many lots fill quickly.

Below is the full run-down of Snohomish County park and ride lots, their number of spaces and usage (where known) and whether private carpools are allowed.

Snohomish County park and ride lots

City Lot name Capacity Carpools?
Arlington Smokey Point Community Church 50, full by 8 a.m. Yes
Arlington P&R 25, unk Yes
I-5 and Highway 531 P&R 32, unk Yes
Smokey Point Transit Center No public parking No
Bothell Bothell P&R 220, full by 9 a.m. Yes
Canyon Park P&R 302, 99% Yes
Brier Brier P&R 8, unk Yes
Edmonds Edmonds P&R 255, 45% Yes
Edmonds Station 179, 84% No
United Presbyterian Church of Seattle 64, 40% Yes
Edgewood Baptist Church 10, 7% Yes
Edmonds Lutheran Church 15, 36% Yes
Everett Eastmont P&R 389, 51% Limited
Mariner P&R 644, 74% Yes
Everett Community College No public parking No
South Everett Freeway Station 397, 100% No
Everett Station 1,107, 65% Yes
Gold Bar Gold Bar P&R 28, unk Yes
Granite Falls Granite Falls P&R Unk Unk
Lake Stevens Holy Cross Lutheran Church 35, unk Yes
Ebenezer Lutheran Church 10, unk Yes
Lake Stevens Transit Center 207, unk Yes
Lynnwood Martha Lake Covenant Church 75, 94% Yes
Edmonds CC Transit Center No public parking No
Swamp Creek on 164th P&R 410, 62% Yes
Lynnwood Transit Center 1,370, 100% No (north of Transit Center), Yes (rest of facility)
Ash Way P&R 1,022, 106% Yes
Marysville Cedar and Grove P&R 213, unk Yes
Marysville II P&R 57, full by 8 a.m. Yes
Marysville United Methodist Church 25, unk Yes
Ash Avenue P&R 202, unk Yes
Calvary Chapel 20, unk Yes
Marysville I P&R 74, unk Yes
Mill Creek McCollum Park P&R 409, 92% Yes
North Creek Presbyterian Church 10, 73% Yes
Advent Lutheran Church 40, unk Yes
Mill Creek Community Church 30, 31% Yes
Monroe Monroe P&R 102, unk Yes
Mountlake Terrace Mountlake Terrace Transit Center 880, 99% Yes
Seattle Meditation Center 22, 24% Yes
Bethesda Lutheran Church 20, 83% Yes
Snohomish Snohomish P&R 104, unk Yes
Stanwood Stanwood II P&R 38, unk Yes
Sultan Sultan P&R 38, unk Yes

Sources: Community Transit, Sound Transit, Everett Transit, WSDOT

Note: This table was updated June 23, 2015, to clarify the Lynnwood Transit Center carpool situation and to update the Arlington and Ash Way listings.

Have a question? Email us at streetsmarts@heraldnet.com. Please include your name and city of residence. Look for updates on our Street Smarts blog.

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