**Pay-By-Plate To Allow One-Time Parking Without The Previously-Required Commuter Parking Permit**
Huntington – The Town of Huntington will be converting part of the municipal parking lot at the LIRR Cold Spring Harbor Train Station to pay-by-plate “metered” parking beginning Monday, April 4; the Town’s Commuter Parking Permit will no longer apply to the 128 parking spaces in the mid-tier lot but will remain in place for the remainder of the lot; disability parking will remain free in the metered spaces.
“Complaints related to parking meters virtually dropped to zero since we launched the Passport Parking app in 2019, and we are continuously working to improve the parking experience in Huntington, both at our train stations and in downtown Huntington village,” said Supervisor Ed Smyth. “To prevent a return to the overcrowding conditions we saw in Cold Spring Harbor prior to the pandemic, we are implementing a pay-by-plate parking system in a portion of the lot to ensure the availability of spaces when they are needed.”
The Town is converting just under fifteen percent of the Cold Spring Harbor lot into a pay-by-plate system to replace the commuter parking permit system that will remain in use in the remainder of the lot. Traffic volumes at the train stations have not yet fully recovered from the pandemic but the Town is implementing “metered” parking in the mid-tier lot to address parking capacity issues before volumes return to pre-pandemic levels. The pay-by-plate system will also allow parking patrons to park in the lot without buying a Commuter Parking Permit, which was required before the implementation of the "metered" parking.
The 128 parking spaces in the mid-tier LIRR Cold Spring Harbor Train Station parking lot will be marked with signage instructing commuters and parking patrons on how to download the app. This will be the first roll-out of the pay-by-plate system, with users entering their license plate number into the Passport Parking app instead of a space number; there will be no standalone parking meters at the Cold Spring Harbor lot but new signage will be installed instructing commuters on how to use the app. The Town is anticipating rolling out the license plate-based system in the other metered areas based on the success of the Cold Spring Harbor parking experience.
“Metered” rates at the Cold Spring Harbor train station lot will mirror the rates at LIRR Huntington Train Station 24 hours per day, Monday through Saturday: $10 for 12 hours; $20 for 24 hours. Parking is free Sundays and Holidays.
The Passport Parking app has been in use in conjunction with the standalone parking meters in downtown Huntington village and at the LIRR Huntington Train Station in a pay-by-space system with users entering parking space numbers into the meter or the app.
More on the Passport Parking App: http://www.huntingtonny.gov/parking-app
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