Naperville seeks less driving to Metra station

Naperville commuters who take the train to work may have a few new incentives to avoid driving to the station in the new year.

Raising parking permit fees at the stations, increasing the number of park-and-ride locations and lowering the cost of bus service to the stations were all on the table Monday night at the city's transportation workshop.

"We want to get people to the train station by driving, by carpooling. We want to have some people on the bus. We want them to bike. We want them to walk," said Marcie Schatz, director of transportation, engineering and development. "We don't want to put all of our eggs in one basket. We want to provide a number of ways to get people there."

Schatz said Naperville's downtown and Route 59 train stations are the busiest suburban stations in the Metra system with nearly 10,000 daily boardings between the two.

About 74 percent of those going to the Route 59 station and 47 percent of those going to the downtown station drive themselves.

The city is already studying an increase in parking permit fees and several councilmen have said they support the idea. Parking at the stations costs $1 a day with a permit and $2 without.

Councilman Robert Fieseler, himself a commuter, said raising the fee could encourage casual users to give up their passes and allow those who have been on the waiting list for years to get a permit.

"We need to get more to the tipping point where somebody says, 'I don't need this bad enough to pay for not using it,'" he said.

City staff members will present their recommendations to the transportation advisory board in February and fee hikes could go into effect as early as May.

To encourage alternate ways of getting to the station, Schatz said the city doesn't recommend adding parking spaces at the stations but instead wants to improve bus service and increase park-and-ride locations. They are also recommending subsidizing Pace service to the train stations. The bus service costs $2.50 a day, making it a more expensive option than parking at the station.

Transportation advisory board member Stephen Frost said accessibility and convenience will be key to encouraging commuters to use the bus system.

The city will develop these recommendations further and bring them before the city council for review.