Suburb eliminates daily fees at Metra parking lots

OAK FOREST, Ill. - A Chicago suburb has officially made parking free at its five Metra lots.

On Tuesday, the Oak Forest City Council passed an ordinance eliminating daily parking fees.

According to City Administrator Tim Kristin, the decision comes in response to ongoing issues with vandalism and theft at the parking lot payboxes, which have required police intervention and repairs from public works staff.

In total, Kristin said the estimated cost to replace 12 payboxes is $60,000.

"There are limited replacement options for these types of boxes," Kristin said. "Although we do our best to maintain them, there are too many functional and structural issues to preserve them in the long run."

Additionally, Kristin said Oak Forest police officers spend a minimum of one hour per day collecting the funds from the payboxes. Officers then have to bring the funds to City Hall and the counter clerks spend about five hours per week sorting coins and unfolding cash to deliver to the bank. 

"The collection process is labor-intensive," said Kristin. "It’s really not the best use of our time or resources."

City officials researched alternative collection systems, including electronic payment options. However, after an analysis, it was determined that the system would expend 60 percent of the existing $1.25 daily parking fee. To upgrade the system, the city said it would need to increase the parking fee to at least $2 per day.  

"Eliminating the daily fee will not have a significant impact on our bottom line," said Kristin. "In fact, we believe free parking will lead to more commuters and more foot traffic in our Gateway Development area, which will benefit our commercial corridors – attracting more development opportunities."

The ordinance takes effect immediately.