WEST WINDSOR: Parking rates for new lot not decided

By Charley Falkenburg, Staff Writer
   WEST WINDSOR — The Parking Authority talked rates and timelines for the new, 360-space South Lot near the Princeton Junction train station at its Jan. 8 meeting.
   Chairman Andy Lupo estimated that the authority would be out in the market with the new bonds sometime in April and that commuters might be able to start parking in the South Lot as early as the end of December.
   However, the authority did not decide on permit costs because it is still considering unknown factors that might affect the rates.
   Currently, the authority shares rent expenses with NJ Transit, but if NJ Transit chooses to find a different partner the authority’s expenses will go up — increasing the permit costs to cover those additional expenses.
   ”We are evaluating the impacts if NJ Transit left. Once they go away, our expenses and numbers will change and the cost of that is still unknown,” said Mr. Lupo.
   The Parking Authority is also uncertain when NJ Transit will leave if they choose to do so.
   ”We don’t want to commit to raising the rates and then NJ Transit ends up staying,” said Mr. Lupo. “We want to see what they do down the road — we hope they stay with us.”If NJ Transit stays with the Parking Authority, Mr. Lupo said they don’t envision any increases to the permit costs, which are $40 a month.
   He added that the goal is to keep the rates the same or as close to their current levels as possible. The authority will not be finalizing the rates for another couple of months.
   ”We’re not in a rush to determine the final rate just yet,” said Mr. Lupo. “It’s more important to get the bonds finished and get the project moving to the next phase.”
   The Parking Authority already has the layout design for the lot and will begin to send out proposal requests to potential bidders. Mr. Lupo said that once they award a bid, they would have a better idea of where the costs will be.
   The project will cost about $5.4 million including refunding $460,000 in outstanding bonds for Wallace and Vaughn Lot purchases over the years. The eight-acre lot will contain 360 parking spaces, including handicap accessible stalls, to ease a parking shortage.