When weekday paid parking goes into effect at Reston Town Center Sept. 12, visitors will have to learn a new system that includes, among other things, downloading and using an App; scanning a beacon for validation; or rushing to a kiosk to manually pay by cash or credit card.
That has led more than a few patrons to say they will no longer visit the town center. Or they will take their chances and not pay the $2 an hour.
Here’s how RTC owner Boston Properties plans to enforce parking violations.
Boston Properties says it will use a “soft touch” for the first several months that paid parking is in effect.
“This is a obviously a big change for Reston Town Center,” said BP Property Manager Matt Bonifant. “We have listened to the [visitor] feedback.”
Bonifant said they will progressively warn violators, but they will not ticket or tow (which is a change from current procedures). Patrons can expect leniency, say, for parking over the allotted time period or a one-time offense.
But with the new system in place, security can track how many times you have visited RTC and NOT paid, so repeat offenders should be aware, Bonifant said.
Repeat offenders could be stuck with the “bumblebee,” a device that is suctioned to the windshield so a driver cannot see out to drive a car away. To get the device removed, they must call security and pay a $35 fee.
Indicator lights will also blink when your car is in violation, letting security know to come check it out, Bonifant said.
Photo: The device that could be suctioned to your front windshield for repeat parking violations.
Reston Town Center will go to a paid parking system on Sept. 12. However, chances are, you may only pay a portion (or none) of the $2-an-hour weekday fee due to the cyberspace-based validation system that is also forthcoming, Boston Properties officials say.
Stores will be outfitted with validation Bluetooth-enabled beacons. It is up to the stores to determine what they are offering for validation, says BP Property Manager Matt Bonifant.
For instance, one store or restaurant might give you two hours free if you purchase something. Another might give you an hour just for walking in the door. Still another may offer validation if you spend 15 minutes in the store or enter a dressing room. Read More
When Reston Town Center goes to a paid parking system on Sept. 12, management is hoping thousands of people will download the ParkRTC App. It’s free; one account can be used for multiple cars; it offers special safety features; and will get you ticketless, gateless payment.
But judging by reaction from many Reston Now readers on previous stories and our Facebook page, some would-be RTC visitors will refuse to do so. A few others say they have no plans to purchase a smartphone.
So let’s say your co-workers are going to happy hour at Jackson’s or you have to take your child to a birthday party at Bow Tie Cinemas (both of which have plans to offer validation) and you begrudgingly must enter the $2-an-hour paid parking zone. What to do?
Here’s what:
Boston Properties says there are four ways to pay: By the App; online at ParkRTC.com; in-person via cash or credit card at a kiosk; or by phone at 571-485-7790 (you will be asked to enter parking zone and credit card info).
If you are not using the App, once you park you car in one of the seven garages at town center, you have a 15-minute grace period to sign-in your car at one of four pay kiosks. Kiosks are in the Purple, Blue, Green and Orange garages.
When you get to a pay station: Enter your zone (that’s listed on signs near where you parked); license plate number; expected length of stay; and payment information (credit card, debit card or cash).
For cash users, the pay stations will not give change or provide refunds.
Many stores will validate (it’s high-tech and elaborate; more on that on Reston Now tomorrow), but here is something to know if you are App-less: The validation code you will get is good for your next visit to RTC and not on your current visit (App users will get the validation automatically and immediately sent to their account).
Reston Town Center’s paid parking system for visitors and some employees will go into effect on Sept. 12, Boston Properties officials said on Tuesday.
Boston Properties is encouraging visitors to download the ParkRTC App and familiarize themselves with the system now in order to make a smooth transition next month.
When the system goes into effect, visitors will pay $2 an hour (maximum $24 daily) in RTC’s seven garages and street rates of $3 an hour (free on Sundays). There will be many opportunities for validation from retailers, but that is still being finalized. Retailers who have confirmed they will offer validation include:
- Bow Tie Cinemas
- Crunch Fitness
- Barcelona Wine Bar
- Bartaco
- Community Canteen
- CVS Pharmacy
- Mon Ami Gabi
- Jackson’s Mighty Fine Food & Lucky Lounge
- PassionFish
Garage parking will be free on weekends and during special events.
“We realize moving from a free to a paid parking model gives some pause,” Peter Johnston, BP’s Executive Vice President for the DC Region, said in a statement. “However, Reston Town Center leadership continually focuses on strategies to enhance customer convenience, safety and the overall quality of life. The technological integration is an enormous step in advancing both of these historical and very worthwhile goals.”
Paid parking at Reston Town Center will be pushed back to September, Boston Properties representatives have told store owners.
Reston Town Center was supposed to go to paid parking ($2 an hour) on weekdays beginning Aug. 1. Weekends and special events will remain free.
The app-based pay system is now available for download. Boston Properties, which owns the town center, says it is going from free parking at its seven garages to a paid system in order to cut down on parking misuse by commuters.
Town Center representatives say many people are leaving their cars at RTC all day and hopping shuttles to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro. Many RTC patrons say they will avoid the town center when paid parking goes into effect. Read More
Now available for free download: ParkRTC, an app you are going to need in a few weeks.
Reston Town Center is planning to begin paid parking in its seven garages on Aug. 1. It is encouraging town center visitors to get the free app from Apple or Google Play.
The app, which RTC owners Boston Properties calls a “significant enhancement” for customers, will store your credit card info and will be able to automatically pay for parking, which will cost $2 an hour on weekdays, say Reston Town Center representatives. Weekends, holidays and special events will remain free.
According to Reston Town Center’s FAQs on the subject:
“Reston Town Center has invested in this state of the art, virtual system which will allow you to quickly arrive at your destination and return to your car simply by entering a few digits on your mobile device. The ticketless parking system is based on license plate recognition, making it easier for you to enter and exit Reston Town Center.
A parking guidance system which uses red and green LED-based space indicators and electronic display boards will also guide you to available parking spaces.” Read More
It is about six weeks until paid parking will go into effect at Reston Town Center.
Visitors will have to pay $2 an hour on weekdays — weekends will still be free — and some stores and restaurants say they will validate for at least a few hours of free parking. Still, hundreds of Reston-area residents say they will stay away just on principle.
Many store owners, particularly those who run locally owned businesses, are concerned with what a downturn in customers, combined with validated parking eating into profits, will do to the bottom line.
They should look towards Montgomery County as a cautionary tale.
Last week, downtown Rockville Town Square business owners told Rockville City Council members that parking spaces requiring payment are to blame for their declining sales. Unless something changes, “you’re going to have a lot of boarded up businesses,” the owner of the Ben & Jerry’s franchise said and Bethesda Magazine reported.
Rockville Town Square is a mixed-use destination — retail, as well as an arts center and public library, among others — that charges $2 an hour for parking seven days a week. However, stores validate for two hours of free parking with purchase. Read More
Reston Town Center is going to a paid parking system on Aug. 1. While RTC owners Boston Properties has softened on employee parking — retail and restaurant workers will get passes — it is going to cost $2 an hour for the rest of us (though many places say they will offer some validation).
Parking will be free on and weekends. But a weeknight dinner, a Wednesday business meeting or a free concert with Mr. Knick Knack on a Monday morning are all going to cost you.
Boston Properties says the paid system, managed by an app, is necessary to cut down on commuter parking now that the Metro is in Reston. But Boston Properties executives have also said on earnings calls that they can make tens of millions of dollars by charging for parking.
Here is what many consumers say: that they are done with Reston Town Center. More than 5,000 have signed petitions urging Boston Properties to reconsider. Hundreds have commented on Reston Now’s Facebook page that they will never visit on a weekday again if it means paying for parking.
Others say it is just as easy to go to restaurants at One Loudoun or Tysons, where parking remains free. But won’t more gas to get there actually cost you more than paying a couple of bucks to park at RTC?
What say you? Are you really going to avoid Reston Town Center come August?
Retail employees at Reston Town Center will not be charged for parking when a paid parking system goes into effect this summer, RTC owner Boston Properties has confirmed.
On Aug. 1, Reston Town Center will roll out RTC Park, an app-based system for paid parking. Parking will cost $2 an hour for a maximum of $24 a day. Some retailers will validate parking.
But originally, workers — from the CEO of a tech company on Freedom Drive to a sandwich maker at Potbelly — were going to to have to pay too, though they were going to be offered $50 or $70 a month passes.
Now retail and restaurant workers will get free parking. Office workers will still have to work out any subzidies with their employers or pay for parking.
Boston Properties says it is going to the new system to discourage commuter parking. There is evidence people are parking in some of RTC’s seven parking garages, then taking a shuttle to Wiehle-Reston East to board Metro’s Silver Line. The problem will likely get worse when the Reston Town Center station opens in 2020.
Parking at Reston Town Center will be free on weekends and at special events, management says.
RTC patrons have not been happy with the change. Thousands have signed petitions asking Boston Properties to reconsider. Many others have said they will no longer visit RTC during the week.
When Reston Town Center initiates paid parking beginning Aug. 1, it will be under an app-based system developed by Passport Parking.
While Reston Town Center officials say the gateless, ticketless license plate recognition system is secure, a quick look through Passport Parking’s privacy policy says otherwise.
Parking will be $2 an hour in RTC’s seven garages on weekdays starting this summer. It will remain free on weekends (12 a.m. Saturday to 12 a.m. Monday). Patrons as well as RTC employees will have to pay. Many stores will validate for some free parking, but the exact system and which stores will participate has not been finalized.
RTC is encouraging customers to register their license plate and payment information with the app.
“When customers download the app, they will then be able to pay for their parking from the comfort of their vehicle or extend their parking session remotely,” says the Frequently Asked Questions section on Reston Town Center’s website.
“There will be no need to visit a pay station, as the fee will be automatically charged to their designated credit card at the end of the parking session. Multiple license plates and credit cards may be added into your account when using the Park RTC app.”
Furthermore, RTC says “Park RTC solely hosted by Passport Parking, Inc. will keep all details secure in accordance with their privacy policy, which can be found online when the system goes live. ”
While your credit card info will probably be secure, the rest is open to interpretation.
Passport says users can opt out of sharing some personal info, but “if you choose not to share, some parts of our sites and some services may be more difficult or impossible to use.”
Visitors to RTC do not have to use the app, though RTC management is encouraging them to do so. Visitors will also be able to pay manually via a kiosk.
Paid parking at Reston Town Center is a done deal. Representatives of Boston Properties and the Reston Town Center Association explained why at a community meeting at the Hyatt Regency Reston on Thursday.
“We are an elite destination location,” RTCA Executive Director Robert Goudie said, reiterating that Boston Properties is “not a non profit location.”
As Reston Now has previously reported, Reston Town Center will go to a paid parking system this summer. Goudie and representatives of Boston Properties, which owns the town center, said the plan to install a paid system has been in the works since the town center opened 25 years ago.
Goudie told the crowd of merchants and citizens that in the original town center master plan, there was a proffer agreement that the developer would have to eventually do “transportation demand procedures.” Part of that control would be paid parking. That is a common element of transit-oriented design, he said. Read More
Reston residents can get more information about the planned paid parking system at Reston Town Center at a meeting Thursday at the Hyatt Regency Reston.
While the meeting is aimed at town center homeowners, residents and merchants, members of the public can also attend.
This is a venue change — the meeting was previously scheduled to be at The Avant but has been moved to accommodate more people. The meeting will run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Reston Now reported two weeks ago that Boston Properties, which owns Reston Town Center, will phase in a paid parking system beginning Aug. 1. Read More
When Reston Town Center announced last week it would go to a paid parking system in August, many residents and merchants were shocked.
They should not have been.
There has been talk of instilling a paid system for at least five years — which was nearly 10 years out from a Metro station serving the town center. The Silver Line’s Reston Town Center station is expected to open in 2020.
But Reston Town Center officials say that the 7,000 spaces spread over seven garages are already seeing increased commuter parking as people leave their cars there all day, then jump on a bus to the Wiehle-Reston East station.
That’s why RTC says parking will be $2 an hour starting Aug. 1. Payments can be automatically made via an app, which will also help you locate your car and available parking spots. It is expected that merchants will validate to offset some of the costs. Employees will be able to purchase monthly passes.
Ray Ritchey, Executive Vice President of Boston Properties, which owns the town center, laid out the financial boost of paid parking in a 2011 shareholders call:
“We’ve still got 8,000 parking spaces out there that we have no value on. This is just free parking. So when Metro comes, guess what? We have to put in parking controls, so the commuters don’t come and take the parking spaces and use Metro. So if we just charge $4 a day per space, either in terms of the what that consumer pays directly to us or what we factor in on the renewal of these leases, because we now are going to pay parking. And on the 8,000 spaces, that’s $8 million a year.
And at a fixed cap rate, that’s $130 million of additional value just with paid parking. So you put the value we created in terms of the land and the value created just with the parking, that’s $300 million of value before we put a shovel in the ground and create value the way we normally do it, which is going vertical with office buildings. [It’s] $300 million of value for the Metro stop coming to Reston Town Center.
Another Boston Properties executive said in 2012 that paid parking would happen eventually.
“If you think about it logically, it really is an urban environment in a suburban setting, Peter Johnston, Boston Properties senior vice president and D.C. regional manager, said in 2012.
At least two petitions have been organized by Reston Town Center patrons in response to the news that the mixed-use area will go to a paid parking system this August.
There is a petition on Change.org, as well as on on StandUnited.org, reflecting the frustration of many RTC patrons. From the StandUnited petition:
To Boston Properties: Your paid parking plan is going to kill the Town Center, not help it. Instead of making RTC appealing to people who want to grab a bite to eat or stop at a few shops, you are penalizing them.
Part time and full time hourly employees should not be penalized because commuters have been taking advantage of your parking structure. You are stealing money from people who are trying to better themselves by charging employees monthly fees to park where they work. What other retail places charge employees to park?
Please reconsider your paid parking plan. Tyson’s Corner was able to cut down on commuter abuse without penalizing the store patrons and employees. It’s not right to make businesses who are already paying an exorbitant amount in rent have to subsidize their employees’ and customers’ parking.
A RTC spokeswoman said last week that an app-based system that will go into place in August. The app, RTC Park, will also help patrons locate their car and pay the parking charges by credit card.
Parking will cost $2 an hour. Store and office employees will have to pay for parking as well, but monthly passes (up to $70 for office workers; $50 for retail workers) are being offered. Many stores also say they will offer validation, but that exact plan has not yet been worked out.
Parking will still be free on weekends, holidays and during major community events such as the holiday parade, Oktoberfest Reston or the Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival. There will also be designated free parking for quick stops at stores such as FedEx, CVS and the dry cleaners.
There will be a community meeting on the topic at 6:30 p.m. on March 31 at The Avant (12025 Town Square St. at Reston Town Center).
“We have been discussing paid parking options since the Silver Line was approved,” said RTC spokeswoman Marion Myers. “Since last year’s opening of the Wiehle-Reston Metro Station, we have seen an increase in the already problematic use of RTC parking by commuters and non-patrons. The upcoming additional Reston station will only add to the problem.”
The Reston Town Center Metro station is scheduled to open in 2020.
Reston Town Center employees can expect to pay a monthly parking charge when the center goes to a pay parking system this summer.
The town center announced earlier this week it is in the process of installing a paid parking system for its seven garages. The system, which will be rolled out gradually, will likely go into effect late this summer, RTC officials said.
That has led to frustration by many merchants and outrage from many customers, who say they will no longer visit RTC if they have to pay to park.
“Horrible stupid idea,” said one commenter on Reston Now. “Penalize everyone for the misdeeds of a few. … What they don’t get is that the majority of those going to the restaurants during the week are usually business related and folks from out of town. Imagine trying to tell your business client that you have to download an app in order park, so that you can drink your $8 beer? We don’t need to get used to it because we have choices.”
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