Times: New Hercules transit center behind schedule, opening soon
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 13 July 2009 — 1 comment below »
An interesting thing about the permit-only system for the new parking facility — set to now open August 3 — is that the monthly permit fee is greater than the sum of individual daily permits. It is typically the opposite.
A daily ticket costs you $3 and includes a round-trip WestCAT ticket to/from El Cerrito del Norte BART station. Over the course of a month — four or five weeks of Monday through Friday — that amounts to $69 (assuming the maximum of 23 days; it could be as low as $60). A monthly permit — which may or may not guarantee you a spot on Saturday and Sunday as well — will run you $80. However, the monthly permit includes an unlimited pass for WestCAT, compared to the basic round-trip ticket for the daily permit.
The new system is online only. One question that arises is on Fridays when lighter traffic is sometimes expected on the highways (due to government work schedules, furloughs, etc.). Will the resulting empty spaces mean lost revenue, as well as a lost opportunity to keep another car off the road?
Daily parking permits will be sold through an online system for $3 and includes a round trip WestCAT bus ticket to the El Cerrito Del Norte BART station. Monthly parking permits will be available for $63 without a WestCAT bus pass or for $80 with a monthly WestCAT bus pass. In 2005, BART passed a board resolution approving the $3 a day charge for the Hercules Transit Center, but due to administrative and technical reasons, the fee was never enforced. Transit Center users will be able to purchase their parking permits online beginning July 20, 2009. Permits must be purchased online as no parking meters or boxes will be onsite. When the parking permit system is up and running, website information will be provided.