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BART Considers Raising Parking Fees

OAKLAND (KBCS) - The cost of weekday parking at many Bay Area Rapid Transit stations could soon rise as the transit agency considers basing parking prices on demand at each individual station.

"Charging for parking is another way to keep BART fares down," said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost.

Trost said market-based fee system under consideration would allow prices to rise, or fall, incrementally with a cap of $3 per day at most stations. Fees would decrease at parking lots that no longer fill up at the higher price.

KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports:

BART maintains about 47,000 parking spots around the Bay Area, and most of them cost an average $1 a day to $2 a day. The exception is West Oakland Station, which charges $5 per day.

The transit agency is now collecting input from the public on demand-based pricing. BART customers can provide their input on the idea by taking a survey available on BART's website until December 18.

Trost said there would be a lot of warning before any prices change.

"Anything would have to go through the board. We'd have open hearings before that," she said, adding that the earliest the new fee structure could be implemented is July 2013.

(Copyright 2012 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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