Selectmen Vote to Eliminate Commuter Rail Parking Fee [POLL]

Randy Scollins, Finance Director for the town of Foxborough, met with the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night to discuss Foxborough's commuter rail parking lot fees.

"The commuter rail parking lot hasn't turned out to be as successful as the town thought," said Scollins.

In effort to drum up more interest and to test the "supply and demand" of the lot, located on County Street near the Mansfield Train Station, Scollins proposed to cut the current fee of $2 per day to zero. Selectmen voted 5-0 for the "no fee" proposal, effective Jan. 1.

In December of 2010 the town dropped the lot fee from $3 per day to $2 in an attempt to draw in more residents to use the approximately 119-space lot.

Scollins said Tuesday that on any given day, only 4-6 vehicles can be seen in the Foxborough lot. Some commuters use Mansfield's lots, which charge $4 per day. It has also been reported that some commuters are parking in commercial lots in Mansfield to avoid paying a fee. Some commuters are also parking at the homes of friends who live near the Mansfield train station to avoid parking fees, according to Scollins.

Commuters using the Foxborough lot, which was built mostly with federal dollars, use a free shuttle service provided by GATRA.

"[We need to] find a solution to determine the value of that lot to the residents. [We should] eliminate any fee to find out, still keep it open to the residents of Foxborough and see what the supply and demand is," Scollins said to Selectmen Tuesday night. "[We need to] remove all the barriers to entry to find out what the real value is."

Town manager Kevin Paicos stepped into the conversation saying, "I don’t see why we don’t go for this, get the government out of the business. This is not a revenue issue, we are spending more on patrolling and administrative work more than revenue. Lets open the gate. If the economy starts to pick up then we can go for a fee or not."

"We don’t have a marketable product. Eliminate the fee, eliminate the cost of collection," noted Paicos.

Selectmen voted 5-0 to eliminate the parking lot fee effective January 1. Registration information for residents who wish to use the lot will need to be provided and collected at Town Hall.

For more information visit, www.Foxboroughma.gov.