Will I get a darn parking spot at the Riverside MBTA station?

November 13, 2007 11:53 AM

Boston Metro Filter: Does the greenline riverside MBTA station parking lot fill to capacity during the day?

I moved from Boston to Framingham - and am adjusting to all of the many ways to get back into the city. I have tried the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line and it works but I am looking into other options. If I get to the riverside mbta station around 10am will it be full? If so how early must one get there to have a spot?
THANKS!

posted by irisell to travel & transportation around Boston, MA (6 answers total)

I don't live in Framingham, but I live in Melrose by the northern terminus of the Orange Line (Oak Grove), and it's pretty much impossible to get a spot there on a weekday after 7am, and I think the other terminus stations are similar, because not only the people in the host city use the parking lot but also all the nearby cities and towns. I highly doubt you'll be able to get a spot at 10am.

Also, even if you were able to get a spot with regularity, I would factor the cost of $3.75 daily into your commute costs, and compare that to the cost of a commuter rail pass. MBTA parking is not cheap. That's $18.75 a week, so roughly $75 a month, and the LinkPass is $59 on top of that. Depending on which CR station you're closest to, it may be less hassle to just buy a CR pass. Does your employer offer commuter checks or anything like that?
posted by Kosh at 12:31 PM on November 13, 2007

The next stop in on the greenline, the Woodland stop has a fairly sizeable parking lot that i have been able to find parking in. But i've never tried to park there at 10am on a weekday, it might be full by then. In my experience (ymmv) it is less crowded than the riverside station. I however just get on the commuter rail, as Kosh said, the cost isn't so different if you count the parking.
posted by French Fry at 1:28 PM on November 13, 2007

Riverside's parking lot is pretty big. I can't say exactly you'd get a spot at 10 a.m., but I've parked there mid-afternoon and been OK.

The Woodland lot is pretty big too and again, I've had no trouble mid-afternoon but I can't say anything about 10 a.m.

But you know, it's like at least a 20 minute drive from F'ham to Riverside or Woodland and then you're talking another 45 minutes to an hour to get into Park Street - and don't forget, the Green Line is the slowest and most unreliable of all the lines. Wouldn't the CR out of F'ham be quicker overall?
posted by sutel at 1:48 PM on November 13, 2007

I used to drive to Riverside every morning and on the rare occasion I went in that late it was never filled up. It's a pretty big lot.

Route 9 is the most direct way from Framingham to Riverside, but it can really get backed up in several spots from the Mall, er, I mean The Collection all through Wellesley. Should be ok that time of the morning though.

Also, toss a snow shovel in your car. More than once I arrived at Riverside after work only to find myself snowed in with no sign of a plow or tow truck. I once spent about three hours digging people out.
posted by bondcliff at 1:49 PM on November 13, 2007

Do you hate the commuter rail because it takes you in to South Station? If getting into North Station would make things easier, you could take the Fitchburg line--the Brandeis stop is about a mile north of the Riverside station, and is a Zone 2 stop: $135 a month, versus a $59 Link Pass. The parking at Brandeis is ostensibly pay-per-day, but in practice, everyone just parks in the lot of the office park across the street gratis; huge lot, sort of on the outskirts of campus, parking regulations never get enforced. (I work in that building)

Otherwise, anecdotally I've never seen the Riverside lot completely full from a weekday commuter population.
posted by Mayor West at 6:01 AM on November 14, 2007

I don't dislike the commuter rail. On the days I need to use it it's fairly easy for me to get dropped off and picked up. However, as my job schedule is often not at normal hours and I don't often know when I will be needing to commute the green line seemed like a good option because then I am not locked into the commuter rail schedule. Additionally, often I am already at Kenmore or Riverside which makes it easier to just hop on the green line.

Thank you everyone for all of your help and different commuter options!
posted by irisell at 9:11 AM on November 14, 2007