Skip to Content
Streetsblog California home
Streetsblog California home
Log In
Streetsblog LA

New Map Shows L.A. Metro’s 20,000+ Parking Spaces, Mostly Free

Metro Rail and BRT parking map - by Mehmet Berker
Metro Rail and BRT parking map created by Mehmet Berker. Click for higher resolution PDF
false

Earlier this year, a Seattle transit parking infographic map made the rounds. Created by Zach Shaner at Seattle Transit Blog, the map is helpful for visualizing the urban to suburban mix of station uses, and understanding the investments that Seattle's transit agency is planning.

Inspired by Shaner's Seattle example, friend of the blog Mehmet Berker created an analogous map for L.A. County. The map above includes, as of this month, all of Metro's current rail and BRT station parking, plus Crenshaw/LAX rail line parking currently under construction. Mercifully, neither of the under-construction subways - the Regional Connector and the Purple Line - include parking. The parking data is from Metro's Park and Ride web page.

Similar to the Seattle map, the core of the Metro system (where most boarding occurs) has very little parking. The rest of the system, though, has lots and lots of parking (pun intended.) Including a couple hundred Crenshaw/LAX line spaces, Metro has 24,121 parking spaces. Only 1,596 of them (6.6 percent) are paid for by drivers. The remaining 22,267 (92.3 percent) are free, which is to say that they are paid for by taxpayers and transit riders, whether they drive or not.

Streetsblog L.A. and American Public Transit Association experts have been critical of the costs of Metro's predominantly free parking holdings. Agency investments in Park and Ride subsidize higher income riders, decrease transit’s air quality benefits, and hurt Metro's fiscal bottom line. Building and maintaining free parking is not free. In an elevated structure, parking spaces typically cost Metro $25,000+ a piece. Underground parking is $35,000+ per space. That is a huge subsidy - one that a lot of car-free bus riders would love for Metro to give them.

The good news is that Metro is taking positive steps to manage its parking more fairly and equitably. The agency implemented an all-paid parking pilot for phase 2 of the Expo Line. The pilot will be expanded to nine stations fairly soon. At Expo and Crenshaw, Metro has gone to bat to favor transit-oriented development over what had been approved as future parking. Metro's new parking policy proactively manages parking pricing at busy lots.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog California

Friday’s Headlines

Today's Headlines span the Yolo Causeway to Hellhole Canyon

August 8, 2025

SGV Connect 139: ICE

ICE's terrifying impact in the San Gabriel Valley, and what residents and California's leaders can do to prepare.

August 7, 2025

LADOT Removing Some Peak Hour Car Lanes, Restoring On-Street Parking

The program is reversing decades of LADOT peak hour parking removal for expanding car capacity, but the first phase doesn't quite live up to council's instructions supporting multimodal transportation.

August 7, 2025

Commentary: Downtown S.F. Rebounds. Must be the Return of Cars to Market Street… oh Wait

The argument for letting cars back on Market Street just went out the window. Instead, let's make the car ban real.

August 7, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines

Tired of seeing ICE in the headlines? So am I.

August 7, 2025
See all posts