Wheaton Metro Station Parking Under-Used

Most Metro commuters know a few tricks of the trade when it comes to parking.

At many stations, if you arrive too late in the morning, you may just be out of luck when it comes to snagging a space. 

But it turns out there are more than enough parking spaces available to Metro riders at stations in Montgomery County. Some stations, though, are more popular for parkers than others, according to data released to Patch by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. 

Of the 13,884 parking spaces at eight Montgomery County Metro stations, only 82 percent were used on an average weekday in August 2011, the last time WMATA collected data on parking usage.

This data set shows an average weekday capacity of 100 percent at Glenmont Metro station, but only 44 percent at Wheaton Metro station, at the lowest end of the spectrum.

A , which opened in April, has increased that station's capacity to 3,000 spaces and the total parking capacity of the Montgomery County stations to more than 15,000 spaces.

The Rockville Metro station, with only 524 available parking spots, clocked the highest percentage of spots used, with 102 percent of the lot full on an average weekday. Metro spokesman Philip Stewart explained this statistic reflects the turnover in spaces throughout the day.

This table reflects parking capacity and usage as of August 2011.

Stewart also confirmed no new parking garage capacity expansions are being planned, studied or funded by WMATA at this time.

How difficult is it to find a parking spot at Wheaton Metro Station? How would you compare it to Glenmont? Tell us in the comments.