1,133 Spaces, Only 307 Parked; More Needed?

An average of 826 parking spaces at Union Station’s garage sat empty and unused every day in January — even as the city and the state plan to add 600 new ​“structured parking spaces” to the transit hub over the coming decades. 

The garage’s persistent pandemic-era parking problem came up Monday night during the city parking authority’s latest regular monthly meeting, which took place online via Zoom. 

The Union Station parking vacancies offer a look at just how much the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic continues to disrupt commuter patterns, particularly among train riders heading into and out of New York City.

They also raise a question about the wisdom of adding 600 new parking-spaces to Union Station’s ​“campus” — which is exactly what a newly inked 55-year, state-city accord calls for.

“At this point, while mask mandates are lifting and return-to-work dates are announced yet still continue to be in the future, it’s still too early to tell what any future travel demand will look like or commute patterns will be,” Park New Haven Executive Director Doug Hausladen said in a phone interview with the Independent after Monday’s meeting.

One point is for sure, though, he added: January’s Union Station parking dip offers a clear look at just how significant the ​“Omicron wave” was as it caused Covid cases in January to spike throughout the region — and subsequently kept commuters and ​“transient” travelers at home, away from the office, out of restaurants, and not parking in parking garages.

Park New Haven Chief Operating Officer Sammy Parry first raised the issue of Union Station’s low parking levels during Monday’s meeting.

Just as he does every month, Parry walked the commissioners through various charts showing daily average occupancy levels at the city’s publicly owned parking garages. 

And just as he has done every month for the past two years, Parry emphasized how much Covid has hurt parking levels at all city-owned garages — but in particular at Union Station, which is serviced by a host of rail and bus lines, including Metro North, Amtrak, and the Hartford Line. (Note: Union Station Garage is legally owned by the state, and leased by Park New Haven.)

Union Station Garage has 1,133 parking spaces, he said.

In January, the garage saw an average of 307 parked cars per day. That represents quite the setback from the 552 parked cars per day Union Station Garage saw in December. Which in turn capped a year’s worth of steadily improving numbers — from a low of 124 in January 2021, to 370 last June, to over 550 by the end of the year.

Even with that progress and notwithstanding the Omicron setback, Parry said, parking levels at Union Station’s garage remain well below where they were before the pandemic hit. In January and February 2020, for example, Union Station Garage saw on average over 1,025 parked cars per day.

“The transient portion for the garage, it’s miniscule. It’s not there,” Parry lamented on Monday. ​“As the trains move, that’s when we get occupancy levels to where they’re supposed to be in the garage.” 

But for now — as Covid has continued to severely impact travel demand for office-workers and downtown-revelers alike — the Union Station garage remains mostly empty.

According to the Connecticut Commuter Rail Council, ridership on the Metro North’s main New Haven-New York City train line in 2021 was 65.7 percent less than in 2019. That includes December 2021 ridership numbers that were 47.3 percent less than in December 2019.

The city’s other parking garages have seen slightly better numbers than in previous months, Parry added. ​“But, again, nothing to write home about.”

Crown Street Garage, for example, has a capacity of 708 spaces, and saw a daily average of 349 parked cars in January. Temple Medical Garage has a capacity of 371 spaces, and saw a daily average of 148 parked cars in January.

“Do you think reducing the cost in the short term would maximize parking?” city transit director Sandeep Aysola asked.

“I wouldn’t think so,” Parry replied. 

He said the city’s parking rates — including $2 per hour or $18 per day at Union Station — are quite competitive with those charged at privately owned lots in the area. 

The problem is, he said, there are fewer activities going on for ​“transient” travelers to go to. 

That will change soon. Hopefully.

Parry said that the resumption of in-person concerts at College Street Music Hall and in-person plays at the Shubert Theatre should drive traffic, so to speak, to the city’s parking garages. Hausladen said that the parking authority recently had a meeting with Shubert personnel that was all about events, and not at all about Covid. It was a ​“blessing,” he said. 

Parry added that the return of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in mid-March for the first time since 2019 should also help bring thousands of people, and their cars, into downtown.

What About Those 600 Planned New Parking-Garage Spaces?

After the meeting, the Independent asked Hausladen about how these low parking numbers affect his thoughts on the newly signed Union Station partnership agreement. The partnership agreement sets redevelopment goals for the station, including 600 new structured parking spaces, a new multi-modal transit hub, and new liner buildings containing retail and office space — but doesn’t go into any specific detail on what exactly should be built where, when, and with what money.

“I think it’s important to consider that the Union Station partnership agrees for the campus to provide 600 additional structured spaces,” Hausladen said. ​“That will come at the cost of the surface parking lots and the spaces that are there now.”

That is: those planned new 600 parking-garage spaces do not represent a net addition of 600 new places to park. Taking into account the surface parking spots that will be lost during the development of these new ​“structured parking” spaces, he said, the net addition of new parking spaces is closer to 300.

As for what the continued low numbers of parked cars at Union Station portends for the future… well, ​“it’s still too early to tell what it means for post-pandemic life.” Office workers will likely start returning to their buildings in the coming weeks and months. Restaurant- and theater- and concert-goers will likely start heading back downtown as venues reopen with more in-person events.