Commuters who want to avoid traffic congestion and save on commuting costs can leave their cars in commuter parking lots, commonly called park and ride lots, while they use carpools, vanpools, or buses for their trips to work. The Capitol Region includes 42 commuter parking lots across 27 municipalities. CRCOG began conducting biannual capacity counts for the Region’s commuter parking lots in Spring 2017. To view the data collected from these counts from 2017-2019, please click here.
The utilization of commuter parking lots has been greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated changes in working and travel behavior. CRCOG staff has continued conducting its usual lot counts in April and October to quantify the difference in utilization. The most recent counts can be found here. While counts in October 2022 showed a small increase (7%) over April 2022 and more than double the average usage of 2020 and 2021 (135%), usage of commuter lots in the Capitol Region remains 48% lower than the pre-pandemic average.
An interactive map of commuter parking lots throughout the state is available through the Connecticut Department of Transportation at https://www.ctroads.org/. The CTroads site also includes information about lighting, shelters, and bus service that is available at each lot. Additional information about the relationship between commuter parking lots and Express Bus Service can be found on CTtransit’s website.