Meanwhile, commuters who use the MARC station in Aberdeen have set up a blog to agitate for more and better parking, complaining that they often have to pass through a poorly lit and dangerous tunnel to reach their cars.
"Homeless people may go to the bathroom down in the tunnel. It's disgusting," said R.V. Scott of Havre de Grace. She added that in many cases riders have to walk many blocks to find legal parking spaces across U.S. 40.
"It's unsafe to cross because there's tractor-trailers coming down," Scott said.
Up the line in Perryville, northern terminus of MARC's Penn Line, town officials are struggling to find a balance between the needs of residents and commuters. The agency recently leased about 40 spaces from a nearby church, but that lot may be filling up, too, said town administrator Denise L. Breder. She said police have tried to show restraint in giving out tickets but have been forced to in cases where commuters block other motorists' passage.
"We certainly don't want to deter the use of the train, but we would like to see the MTA acquire additional parking," Breder said.
Near the Halethorpe station, a commuter named Debra expressed a similar wish after she pulled into an illegal parking space on Oregon Avenue. Arriving for a late train, the woman - who declined to give her last name because she is a parking scofflaw - said she had given up looking for spaces in the MTA lot that stretches almost a half-mile down Southwestern Boulevard from the platform.
"I used to park in the parking lot and go, way, way, way down," she said. But on this day she was running late for her train.
"They may just have to ticket me," she said - and hurried to the station.
michael.dresser@baltsun.com
Transit growth, parking woes
Throughout the Baltimore region, parking lots that serve mass transit riders and car-poolers are full or nearly full. Here are some, with the number of spaces in each lot.
MARC TRAIN
Penn Line
Perryville (169)
Aberdeen (188)
Edgewood (294)
Martin State Airport (321)
West Baltimore (327)
Halethorpe (770)
Odenton (1,275)
Seabrook (264)
Camden Line
Laurel (504)
LIGHT RAIL
Falls Road (110)
Mount Washington (83)
Cromwell/Glen Burnie (795)
PARK AND RIDE
Anne Arundel County
Route 4 and Route 258 (137)
Route 4 and Route 408 (100)
U.S. 50/301 and Route 424 (199)
Route 665 and Riva Road (680)
Baltimore County
I-83 and Route 439 (71)
I-83 and Shawan Road, unofficial (36)
I-695 and Providence Road (30)
Harford County
I-95 and Route 24 (75)
Route 152 and Route 147 (153)
Howard County
Route 144 (off I-70) and Route 97 (22)
Route 32 and Broken Land Parkway east (325)
Route 32 and Broken Land Parkway west (361)
Route 175 and Snowden River Parkway (210)
Queen Anne's County
U.S. 50 and Route 8 (266)
U.S. 50 and Route 404 (37)
Sources: State Highway Administration, Maryland Transit Administration
