Parking violators face higher fines

BART began charging higher fines for drivers who park illegally at BART stations on April 1, 2008.

"Parking space poachers interfere with our ability to provide promised parking to our prepaid permit holders and daily parking for other law-abiding BART patrons," said BART General Manager Dorothy Dugger. "Some parking violators report that it is cheaper to break the rules, pay the $25.00 fine, than drive and park at their destination. It was necessary for us to increase parking fines to encourage drivers to 'park by the rules,'" Dugger added.

WHY THE INCREASE?
BART has 46,000 parking spaces at 33 of its 43 stations. Last year, BART police officers issued almost 66,000 parking citations to drivers who violated BART's parking rules. Approximately 50% of these parking citations were written for permit-related violations: 41% for failure to validate their parking and 9% for all other parking violations. "Our ridership has increased significantly since 1993, when our last parking penalty structure was approved," said BART's Customer Access Department Manager Kevin Hagerty. "The increased penalties that the BART Board adopted last month are comparable to what other Bay Area agencies and cities levy."

On March 13, 2008, the BART Board voted to increase the parking penalties as follows:

24-HOUR WEEKDAY TIME LIMIT
With the exception to the Airport/Long-Term parking permit holders, there is a 24-hour weekday time limit on parking in all BART lots. Drivers who leave their vehicles in BART parking lots for more than 24 hours on weekdays will be subject to a $100.00 fine.

PARKING IS FREE ON DESIGNATED HOLIDAYS

On BART designated holidays, parking fees are not enforced. These holidays are:
? New Years Day
? Martin Luther King Day
? Presidents Day
? Memorial Day
? Independence Day
? Labor Day
? Columbus Day
? Veterans Day
? Thanksgiving Day
? Christmas Day

For more information on BART's parking options go to the parking section.