Discounted monthly parking spaces at NJ Transit’s Route 23 Transit Center were a rare commodity recently as commuters once again were left disgruntled.
Marking the first time NJ Transit has charged a fee to park in its lots — current spaces quickly sold out when they went on sale in the beginning of March.Working to meet the demand NJ Transit increased the number of discounted monthly parking spaces at the transit center and the Willowbrook Mall lot.
Discounted monthly parking passes were available for about half of the spaces in the lots and sold out, said Dan Stessel, NJ Transit spokesman. NJ Transit added more monthly spaces at the transit center the next day, however those had sold out by the end of the morning rush hour.
"The demand exceeded what we set aside prior to the sale of the discounted monthly spaces. Now we’ve added an additional 100 spaces at both the transit center and Willowbrook," Stessel said. "Looking to handle this as smoothly as we can, NJ Transit didn’t wait until April to respond rather they reacted quickly."
Additional car hang-tags will be made available, and 70 percent will be devoted to monthly customers on March 20, which is the first day the parking and bus passes will be on sale for the month of April. And Stessel urges commuters to get them quick.
"Commuters should get to their location early that day to ensure they get their passes," Stessel stated.
The lack of parking overall at the transit center has had commuters frustrated since its opening in January. And when news was announced about charging a fee, commuters grew more angered.
Reportedly, a scuffle broke out between commuters and NJ Transit officials on hand at the transit center the day the monthly parking passes were sold out. According to witnesses threats were made to NJ Transit officials by angered commuters, however according to Deputy Chief John Reardon, no calls were received by the Wayne Police Department. And Stessel was not aware of any incidents of that nature involving the NJ Transit Police.
A monthly parking pass at the transit center, the Willowbrook park and ride, and Mothers lot costs $25. A daily parking pass costs $2, which totals up to $15 more for the whole month.
