By Greg Forester / Staff Writer
WEST WINDSOR — People who have failed to respond to the township Parking Authority will have their names deleted from the waiting lists that determine who receives coveted parking permits for lots at the Princeton Junction train station.
That is the latest development for commuters playing the waiting game, after authority members decided that a parking demand study they commissioned could be made more accurate with a thorough scrubbing of the waitlists. Desman Associates of New York was set to present their findings at an authority meeting on Aug. 27, the day of the decision, but authority members instead voted to scrub the lists and get the data back to Desman to plug into the study.
”We didn’t want numbers to get out there, and people to run and say ‘they said this,’” said Andy Lupo, chairman of the parking authority.
It is the hope of Parking Authority members that the Desman study would help determine what the current and future parking needs are at the township’s train station, as the authority explores how to provide additional parking at the bustling transit hub.
In an interview last week Mr. Lupo verified that the authority’s plan will involve the 2,380 names on a waiting list for the Wallace Road lot, in addition to 4,417 on a list for a NJ Transit lot on Alexander Road and some 1,043 on a waiting list for a lot on Vaughn Drive.
Those numbers do not represent 7,840 individual names, according to Mr. Lupo, who said there were duplicate names on the lists. He confirmed that even with repeated mailings and outreach on the part of the Parking Authority, currently more than 700 individuals have not yet responded and faced deletion from the waitlists.
Parking Authority officials are also entertaining the thought of charging a quarter’s worth of parking fees up front to commuters who wish to get on a waitlist, as a means of ensuring those on the lists are serious about getting a spot.
Currently all that is required for an entry on a waitlist is the commuter’s personal information and a $5 fee.
”We’re trying to figure out the best way to make the waiting list more meaningful,” Mr. Lupo said.
Parking Authority officials hope that the deletion of the names from the lists and revisions to the process of getting on the lists will result in a more accurate picture for authority members, as they continue to work on providing more parking options.
That process is occurring simultaneously with a township redevelopment program that centers on 350 acres of land surrounding the train station and includes all of the Parking Authority’s operations.
While reiterating the authority’s support for the township’s planning process, Mr. Lupo said again that the Parking Authority was moving to provide parking, either within or without the township’s sometimes contentious and slow-moving redevelopment process.
”We want to be supportive to the township and the residents,” said Mr. Lupo. “But the biggest issue is parking and we’d like to see that addressed first.”

