To get the Metro we deserve, transform parking into housing

WMATA, the most indispensable transportation infrastructure in the nation’s capital and surrounding counties, faces a looming challenge: an unresolved budget shortfall of $750 million in 2024. The ramifications of this financial strain would extend far beyond regular riders to even the businesses and facilities around stations. The region’s livelihood hinges on WMATA’s vitality, and my long-running wish list is for more than Metro to simply survive.

I imagine myself growing old with my husband in our home in Rockville, with basic necessities within walking distance so we don’t have to drive to Home Depot for a screwdriver in our 60s. I imagine a city that welcomes families with children, people with limited abilities, and older people by not leaving cars as the only option to get around. In my utopia, we rely on WMATA trains and buses. We walk in the shade, bike comfortably, and greet passing acquaintances.

Sadly, even now in our mid-30s, we have barely any items on my wish list. Metrorail doesn’t always serve us well, since there are no direct connections to get to our friends in Hyattsville, or to Virginia for work. Still, the Metro is key for getting around the region, and I don’t want to lose it! That’s why it’s vital for the system to find and tap new sources of sustainable revenue, and for local jurisdictions to support this process.

Better uses for underutilized parking lots

Many riders at the region’s edges are forced to drive to Metro stations because good pedestrian and bike connections don’t exist. This is not by accident: many early stations were designed to be reached by driving and feature ginormous parking lots and garages. That mid-century car-centric vision ended up being far from reality as people started living and working near Metro stations. Metro proximity is real estate gold, but the agency didn’t adapt fast enough.

How else can WMATA generate revenue to address its financial needs? One potential avenue lies in more lucrative functions for underutilized parking lots.

The WMATA parking fee is about $5 per day, and if you leave after midnight, there’s no charge. Back in 2019, Metro parking lots were utilized at 55% capacity, according to WMATA’s parking data. As people opted to live and work near metro stations, the demand for parking declined. In most Maryland and Virginia stations, parking usage plummeted to as low as 20% in recent years, driven by remote work amid the pandemic.

My home station, Twinbrook, has 1,097 parking spaces spread across two garages and two lots on either side of the rail. They generate about 9,000 transactions daily, or 16% of its capacity, as of 2022-2023. If the lot were full, WMATA’s parking revenue would be around $230,000 daily. In reality, it only brings in about $50,000 or less. That’s without accounting for maintenance costs, which includes seasonal sweeping, annual resealing, repaving, and marking.

As Veronica O. Davis says in her book “Inclusive Transportation,” dense development generates tax revenue, while parking lots are just parking lots. They contribute to the heat island effect and stormwater runoff, plus they’re ugly. Close your eyes and open them at the Cleveland Park entrance: beautiful, green, and vibrant. Then do the same at the Twinbrook entrance: an ocean of asphalt, lifeless and depressing. Why not find a better use for this wasted space?

Excess parking is holding Metro back, TOD can move it forward

Since 1975, Metro has completed 55 joint development projects totaling 17 million square feet. Still, over 50 years, the amount of TOD the region has built is only about equivalent in size to L’Enfant Plaza. These projects collectively contribute $194 million in annual state and local tax revenue, according to WMATA’s 10-Year Strategic Plan for Joint Development, released in 2022. It envisions transforming these expanses of asphalt into mixed-use developments that integrate residential, commercial, and recreational spaces.

The plan aims to build 31 million square feet of new development —- nearly double what already exists. These planned joint developments will bring in an estimated annual property lease revenue of $50 million, compared to the existing lease revenue of about $10 million.

There’s a lot of untapped TOD potential: Of Metrorail’s 98 stations, only 32 of them have TOD, with the goal to expand this to 18 more stations by 2032, according to WMATA’s Strategic Plan. That means almost half of Metrorail’s stations are not maximizing their use for housing and revenue, and have no plans to do so. Some stations with existing TOD can have more amenities if they transform underused parking lots to mixed use developments.

These new developments also generate a significant increase in ridership. In its strategic plan, Metro anticipates that new joint developments will add 9 million metro trips annually, which would increase metro fare revenue by $40 million. In other words, these new developments will add about $90 million per year in revenue, while existing parking generates $26 million, accounting for only 1% of Metro’s total sources of funds.

Plus, revenue from TODs is not only beneficial for Metro. The increase in real estate value and taxes from the sale of goods and services are just a few benefits for localities. According to Metro’s budget report estimates, future joint developments could lead to a $9 billion increase in property value and an annual tax revenue of $340 million.

Converting underutilized Metro parking lots into TOD requires cooperation among states, counties, and cities to contribute to what would be their mutual tax revenue benefit. Ideally, this shouldn’t take a decade if everyone is fully committed. It won’t solve all of Metro’s budget woes, but it will help it build a sustainable future. Jurisdictions should make TOD happen faster, not just for revenue, but for climate-friendly growth and welcoming neighborhoods for all ages, genders, and abilities — aka equity!

TOD can boost Metro — so why isn’t it happening faster?

The challenges of inadequate sustainable revenue and lack of housing also present intertwined opportunities that could help both WMATA and our communities thrive. Dense housing around transit enhances housing affordability and is a necessary investment for an environmentally sustainable future. So why isn’t this transformation happening rapidly?

Besides a lack of will, zoning has been a significant obstacle in transit-oriented development with arbitrary and often racist land use, lot size, and minimum parking requirements. Prince George’s requires at least 1.33 parking spaces at housing within a mile radius of Metro, Fairfax County requires 1.6 spaces per dwelling unit, and Montgomery County requires 1.5 spaces for a two-bedroom, with a 5% reduction near Metro stations.

Parking mandates drive up housing costs and construction expenses. In the past decade, several jurisdictions, including Culver City, California; Raleigh, North Carolina; Nashville, and Anchorage have abolished minimum parking mandates to stabilize rents and provide more housing choices. A similar shift is necessary within the Washington region.

We need regional initiatives prioritizing collective interests over constructing more lanes or tollways. We need leaders and transportation professionals who believe in induced demand and traffic evaporation over outdated levels of service or crash prevention calculations. To create vibrant communities around transit hubs, jurisdictions should revoke minimum parking requirements for new developments to facilitate more cost-effective construction, increase housing availability, and expedite development near metro stations.

An exemplary case is Montgomery County’s More Housing at Metrorail Stations Act, which came into effect in 2021. This act offers incentives for high-rise developments, including affordable housing, on WMATA Metro station properties that are currently exempt from property taxes. This model can be adapted in Prince George County as well.

At Twinbrook Metro, adjacent land is an industrial plaza along a long stretch of Lewis Rd, single-family housing on the other side, an unknown parcel, parking — too much of it, then some mixed-use developments and a hotel. New developments are coming, which is exciting, but old ones should be updated as well.We don’t need 10-story buildings everywhere — what we need is housing diversity and more homes around transit stops, which low-density zoning has held us back from for a long time.

Why can’t we have a café right around the corner where I can get an egg sandwich for breakfast and say hi to a familiar face, where I can leave my dog by the door worry-free? One with tables outside to kickstart my work-from-home morning or a weekend bike ride to Rock Creek. A place where I can read my books or maybe write my books in my 50s and 60s.

It exists in so many places, and it can exist in Rockville too. Turning parking into housing is not just good for WMATA, and it’s good for all of us in the crisis of housing shortage and high prices. TOD makes biking and walking easier and more pleasant. TOD means better stormwater management, while the Twinbrook metro parking lot makes me struggle to lock my bike thanks to the pond of water on the sidewalk after every rain. TOD makes it comfortable to sit and wait for your bus to arrive, and if it’s late, no problem, you can get tea or coffee while waiting.

Our region deserves better than too much parking

If we continue to plan for cars, all we get is more cars. More stroads, more fatal crashes, and more children, older adults, and people with disabilities excluded from the public space. It means more contamination in the air we breathe and in the water we drink, and noise pollution that drives us literally crazy.

If we start thinking about community building and what kind of place we want to live in, then we can build what we want and deserve to have. We deserve and should insist on dependable and frequent public transit, along with access to bikes and E-bikes, green walkways, and communal spaces. Metro reduces our dependence on cars and creates a network of possibilities. To realize this future, we must foster housing diversity and ensure quality public transit for everyone.

This isn’t just about enhancing mobility, but also fueling economic growth, providing more housing and fostering a glimmer of hope in our climate fight. There is a proven track record of successful regional bike networks connected to transit, where retirees take to enjoy their time and which allow children to go to school and teenagers to be independent, and make all of us physically active and socially engaged. This transit system reduces our dependence on cars and creates a network of possibilities, much like a robust WMATA network that connects us to opportunities!