Parking Price Drops At West Falls Church Metro

FALLS CHURCH, VA—February will bring parking fees on Saturdays, extended parking fee hours, and up to $10 non-rider parking fees at Metro. But Falls Church riders are better off than others at nearby stations.

Starting Monday, Feb. 5, West Falls Church will lower the weekday parking fee to $3. But riders will also begin paying a $2 parking fee on Saturdays. East Falls Church will have no changes aside from the new $2 Saturday fee.

Meanwhile riders at Dunn Loring and a handful of other Northern Virginia stations could pay $8.95 "non-rider" charges meant for those that park at Metro and don't use the rail or bus systems. That's a big contrast to the typical $4.95 fee on weekdays and the new $2 fee on Saturdays.

The $8.95 fee would apply for three kinds of riders:

• Anyone paying with a credit card
• Anyone paying with a SmarTrip card not used for their Metrorail or Metrobus ride
• Anyone paying with a SmarTrip card exiting the parking lot more than two hours after the start of their last Metrorail or Metrobus trip

The best way to avoid the steeper charge is to pay with the SmarTrip card immediately after exiting the Metro system, or use another station like West Falls Church. Drivers should also be aware of extended hours where parking fees will be charged. Fees will be collected two hours earlier on all weekdays and one hour later on Fridays. The new hours 7:30 a.m.-12:30 a.m. Mondays to Thursdays, 7:30 a.m.-2 a.m. on Fridays and 10 a.m.-2 a.m. on Saturdays.

Weekday parking fees will only decrease at two stations: Landover and West Falls Church. See a full list of parking fee charges here.

How do you feel about the parking fee changes? Does it affect your willingness to ride Metro? Let us know in the comments or on the Falls Church Patch Facebook.

Image via Patch editor Emily Leayman