ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Parking Fee Needs Review

San Juan Capistrano’s decision to impose a $2-a-day parking fee for Amtrak commuters is shortsighted and could cost the city much more than it hopes to earn.

In levying this local charge at the same time that the South Coast Air Quality Management District is working to bring the county into compliance with federal clean-air standards and transportation officials are promoting rail and bus commuting, San Juan Capistrano is ignoring its local responsibility. The city will pick up a few extra dollars, but San Juan Capistrano--and the entire area--will pay a heavy environmental cost for every commuter who goes back to the car and onto the freeway.

For years the 99 parking spaces at the depot have been free to commuters. Starting Tuesday, those spaces will have a three-hour limit, and commuters will be forced to use one of the 131 parking places set aside in a new parking garage across from the depot. Those new parking spots carry a $2-a-day fee, a charge sure to have an adverse effect on commuter train travel.

The use of the passenger trains running from San Diego to Los Angeles has been growing each year, until it is now one of the most heavily traveled rail corridors in the nation. San Juan Capistrano is a major station in the Amtrak system, in terms of passenger loads. And all county transportation plans that aim to get motorists out of their cars and into public transit rely heavily on the train as a workable alternative, with San Juan as a vital link in the rail park-and-ride system.

Other county cities with stops along the line--Santa Ana, Anaheim and Fullerton--do not charge commuters for parking. San Juan Capistrano shouldn’t, either.

If it doesn’t remove the fees entirely, it should at least sell monthly passes to keep them within reason.