EDMONDS – The cost to park at the downtown Edmonds ferry terminal most likely will go up in the next few months as Washington State Ferries takes over management of the parking lot there.
The change is part of a system-wide plan to increase revenue for the agency and will officially go into effect Aug. 2, WSF officials said.
“We haven’t decided yet (what the parking rate will be) … But it will most likely be higher, because (the previous) rate was significantly low,” said Tim McGuigan, contracts manager for WSF.
Currently, parking rates at the WSF-owned lot are $5 for up to two hours, $8 for two to eight hours and $12 for 24 hours.
Ferry commuters who have prepaid several months of parking in the lot currently are being contacted regarding the change, McGuigan added, but will be offered a continued contract including the higher cost.
The lot will remain open to all users, including downtown shoppers, visitors and city employees, McGuigan said. Since the City of Edmonds began managing the commuter parking lot under a 1980 agreement, the city has earned about $32,000 towards the $27 million general fund annually from monthly and daily parking fees. WSF officials said they estimate a total revenue of between $250,000 and $500,000 after they take over management of about six WSF-owned parking lots including the one in Edmonds, Anacortes and on Bainbridge Island.
The revenue loss will not have a significant impact on the city, said city finance director Dan Clements.
“It’s not something we like to see, but it’s manageable,” Clements said. “We’ll just do without it.” When WSF takes over the Edmonds lot, McGuigan said they will most likely contract the management out to a company such as Diamond, though WSF may eventually put out a bid for the management position. Edmonds city staff currently is discussing the transition, and a press release was sent out regarding the subject, said Edmonds city clerk Sandy Chase.
Within the next few months, WSF will do some minor landscaping around the parking lot and security monitoring will take place five times daily to deter violations of parking regulations, McGuigan added.
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