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WMATA Real-Time Parking
Information Feasibility Study
Van Dorn Parking Accumulation
Chapter 2: EXISTING PARKING CONDITIONS
The parking spaces at the Van Dorn Metrorail station are in high demand with
unrestricted spaces reaching capacity between 8:00 and 9:00 AM and staying full or
almost full until 3:00 PM when the data collection activities were completed, as shown in
Figure 2-8. Some parkers did take advantage of the availability of reserved parking
spaces after 10:00 AM because usage jumped from 86.7 percent in the hour beginning
at 10:00 AM to 100 percent in the hour beginning at 11:00 AM. Approximately one
month prior to the data collection activities, a field review was undertaken of all the study
sites including Van Dorn. At approximately 2:00 PM, the reserved spaces were fully
occupied but only 21 of the 60 vehicles had a reserved monthly parking permit and there
were 11 vehicles with parking tickets. These observations suggest that some abuse of
the reserved parking spaces occurs, but many of the parkers using the spaces arrived
after 10:00 AM.
West Falls Church Parking Accumulation
The accumulation of parked vehicles at the West Falls Church station starts slower than
at the other three sites and gradually builds towards near capacity conditions. Between
7:00 and 8:00 AM, only 21.5 percent of the spaces were occupied as compared with
79.5 percent at Van Dorn, 45.8 percent at Vienna/Fairfax, and 40.1 percent at
Franconia/Springfield. Overall occupancy levels reach 89.9 percent from 9:00 until
10:00 AM and then climb to percentages in the high 90’s thereafter. Unrestricted spaces
reach their actual capacity from 10:00 to 11:00 AM and then decrease slightly with a few
unoccupied spaces from 11:00 AM until the completion of the count at 3:00 PM.
Figure 2-9 presents a summary of the hour-by-hour count of parked vehicles at the
West Falls Church Metrorail station.
Page 2-14 June 2009