Commuter Rail Parking Rate Increase Approved

Those who park at one of Melrose's three commuter rail stops to jump on the train into Boston will pay an additional $1 per day and more for multi-day parking passes, after the Melrose Board of Aldermen approved the increases Monday night.

The aldermen by an 8-2 vote approved request to bump the $2 daily rate to $3. Also, the $35 monthly passes would be eliminated, replaced by the option of purchasing at new pay-and-display machines either a 10-day pass for $27.50 or a 20-day pass for $50.

of the aldermen's Appropriations Committee,  Superintendent Bob Beshara said that the increased rates would help pay for the solar-powered pay-and-display machines, which will replace the inoperable collection machines at the and stations. The machine at the station still operated, but Beshara said that the cost of repairing the machines was excessive and parts were difficult to come by due to their old age.

Ward 5 Alderman Gail Infurna said that since the last meeting, she received feedback from residents who use the Wyoming Hill station and that they "understood" why the city had proposed the increases.

"They had absolutely no problem with the rates going up," Infurna said. "We always like to keep fees down, but it had been 10 years (since the last increase) and they were really very comfortable with that."

On the other hand, Ward 2 Monica Medeiros, who voted against the increase, said she also heard feedback from residents who weren't happy about the proposed rates. She reiterated her disapproval that the city would raise the rates even though the new machines will have a lower operating cost, due to their solar power and because the city will no longer need to pay for an armored vehicle armored car to collect and transport the payments.

"The fee structure should be tied to the cost of service," Medeiros said. "What I’ve seen hasn’t justified that."

Alderman at-Large Don Conn, Jr., who also voted against the increased rates, said he was concerned about the significant decrease in parking revenues. Those revenues averaged about $90,000 in the three previous fiscal years but are on pace for about $60,000 this year, due in large part to the broken machines at Cedar Park and Wyoming Hill.

The three new pay-and-display machines will cost $24,950 in total.

"I wished it had been addressed sooner," Conn said. "We should be able to purchase the machines out of parking receipts revenues and would have easily been able to do so (if those machines had been operating). I think this is an unfortunate turn of events that parking revenues are down. I hope that will be rectified in the futures—this account needs to be self-sustaining."

Ward 3 Alderman Frank Wright noted that parking at the Oak Grove Orange Line stop costs $5.50 and two scenarios released by the MBTA last month could increase that rate to $7 or $7.50. He added that in addition to raising revenue to purchase the new pay-and-display machines, parking revenues should be used by the city to maintain and repair the city parking lots, which Beshara said at the previous meeting.

"I think it’s a reasonable increase. I think we heard evidence from past surveys that 80 percent who come to the lots are from out of town," Wright said. "Three dollars is not an unnecessarily high increase and as Alderman Mederios said (at the previous meeting) we want to encourage them to come, they might frequent Garniss Market or any other stores in the Wyoming Hill area or around the other stations."

The aldermen also unanimously voted in favor of purchasing the new pay-and-display machines.