Boston Properties Kills Paid Parking At Reston Town Center During Evenings

RESTON, VA — Reston Town Center manager Boston Properties has just announced that it is making parking free again during the evenings on weekdays as well as offering a free hour during the day to shoppers. The change comes roughly six months after a fee was imposed, drawing the wrath of many business owners and their customers.

In January, Boston Properties implemented ParkRTC, which ended free parking at Reston Town Center and forced visitors to pay at all times to park there, except for on Saturdays and Sundays, with street parking only free on Sundays. In a statement issued Wednesday morning, Boston Properties announced it will now offer free weekday garage parking for the first hour of a parking session prior to 5 p.m., and garage parking will be free from 5 p.m. until 3:30 a.m. on weeknights. The garage will remain free on weekends, holidays and special events.

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"As promised, Boston Properties has listened to community and retailer feedback and evaluated the paid parking initiative at Reston Town Center (RTC) over the first quarter of this year," the statement reads. "On weekdays (Monday through Friday), the first hour will be free. Upon starting a parking session, visitors will pay just $2.00 for the second hour with rates for subsequent hours scaling according to the current rate structure. To ensure convenient parking for RTC retail customers, there will be no changes to the existing street parking structure."

The introduction of ParkRTC caused an uproar among Reston residents and businesses. One RTC restaurant even sued Boston Properties, and many other tenants — claiming they were losing business due to the parking fees — organized into the Reston Merchants Association to contemplate their own lawsuit.

"Based on a study of traffic patterns and behaviors as well as retailer input, Boston Properties identified that one hour of free parking and free parking after 5:00 p.m. would address the primary concerns expressed by the community while still supporting the original goals of paid parking: protecting the parking rights of RTC tenants and visitors and augmenting revenue dedicated to community reinvestment," the statement adds.

BXP Executive Vice President Peter Johnston said in the statement: "Considering the current, challenging, national retail marketplace, these changes reflect Boston Properties’ continued commitment to its merchants. We are confident this new model will help ensure the long-term success of all Reston Town Center stakeholders."

BXP added that it would make upgrades to the payment kiosks to streamline payments and validations this summer, which was another major complaint among those who used ParkRTC.

"Among these enhancements, visitors will be able to swipe a credit card rather than manually entering payment information," the statement notes. "In addition, new cash machines have already been installed adjacent to the kiosks."

Update 1:29 p.m.: Local activist Suzanne Zurn praised the decision in a statement, but said Boston Properties still needs to do more.

"Progress was made today with the announcement of changes coming to the Reston Town Center paid parking system," Zurn said. "ParkRTC has been damaging to the community, to businesses, and employees. The community welcomes Boston Properties realization that free parking hours are needed and we look forward to learning more about the upgrades to the parking kiosks.

"Only one hour free during the day is not enough time for someone to park and have a business lunch, attend to other business appointments in RTC, or participate in one of the special events like Mr. Knick Knack. A two to three hour free period during the day would have done more to alleviate the barriers and the community anger."

Image: Patch staff