Fewer people are parking in SEPTA garages, so it cut parking fees in half
SEPTA is dropping the daily parking fee in its Frankford, Lansdale, and Norristown garages from $4 to $2. Officials hope to entice more commuters to park in them.
Prices are rising on everything, everywhere these days.
SEPTA, however, has cut the parking fee at its garages in half.
Until Dec. 31, it will cost only $2 a day to use the Frankford, Lansdale, and Norristown garages, instead of $4.
Fewer commuters are parking in the garages, which are about 5% to 10% full on weekdays, SEPTA spokesperson Andrew Busch said. The transit agency hopes the price break will entice riders.
“We want to see if there’s a demand we’re not serving,” Busch said. “Maybe we just landed on the wrong price point.”
In early 2020, SEPTA stopped charging for parking at Regional Rail stations and transportation centers as people adjusted to pandemic shutdowns and changed commuting patterns.
The transit agency began phasing in paid parking again in 2024 and doubled daily fees — to $2 to park in Regional Rail surface lots and $4 for garages.
SEPTA was tightening its belt during a period of fiscal crisis and looking for ways to generate new income. Officials believed that the price was still relatively low and would help the bottom line.
In fiscal 2019, the agency raised $3.5 million from parking fees, Busch said. For the 2026 fiscal year that ended June 30, SEPTA parking lots and garages took in $5.3 million, he said. That was the first full year after all parking was paid.
Most of Regional Rail’s parking capacity is in surface lots, which are often full or nearly so.
SEPTA says it has noticed more people using street parking around the 989-space Frankford garage instead.
“We’ve heard from some people that they feel unsafe, particularly at the Frankford Transportation Center,” Busch said. SEPTA has added lighting and 30 blind-spot mirrors in the garage, he said.
In June, Lansdale police increased patrols around SEPTA’s parking garage after reports of fighting and underage drinking among teens and young adults using it as a gathering spot.
It is not clear whether customer concerns about the situation contributed to a drop in parking there.
