School's out, commuters. So could we valet-park your car?
As the price of gasoline skyrockets, more commuters are turning to public transportation, creating parking problems at local bus and rail terminals.
C&J bus line notified passengers that parking would be limited at the Portsmouth Transportation Center and the Newburyport Park-and-Ride Lot during the spring school vacation week, which is this week in most of New Hampshire.
C&J is requesting that passengers who want to park their vehicles at either of those lots arrive about 30 minutes prior to their scheduled departure time. C&J staff will be on hand to assist passengers with parking needs.
"We're putting on staff for the school vacation week to operate equipment and valet-park vehicles," C&J president Jim Jalbert said earlier this week.
Some of the cars will be parked in the Pease Golf Course parking lot, Jalbert said. The Pease Development Authority allows C&J to park customer vehicles there until the end of the first week in May at no charge to the company.
During this period, if there is a lack of parking spaces at either the Portsmouth or Newburyport C&J lots, a C&J staffer will park a vehicle for the customer. That means the vehicle's key and the customer's return date will be required, along with a description of the vehicle and the owner's name.
A blue tag will be issued to the customer indicating that the vehicle has been parked by C&J staff. When the customer returns, he or she must turn the blue card in to the service representative at the front desk to get the keys to their vehicle and a map showing its location.
Jalbert said the parking crunch in both Newburyport and Portsmouth is not simply the result of the school vacation. "There is a limited supply and a greater demand because of high gasoline prices and the high cost of living . . . More people are carpooling and taking buses and trains."
According to Jalbert, the Newburyport Park-and-Ride lot was built for 500 cars, but is currently accommodating as many as 700. The Portsmouth lot is supposed to handle 950 cars and is currently accommodating as many as 1,500 using the overflow lot at Pease.
Jalbert said he does not see an immediate solution to the problem, but the new transportation center in Dover, N.H., slated to open in June, will have 500 parking spaces and may help ease the congestion in Portsmouth.
And speaking of parking, Bethany Plante of Amesbury would like to know if the Park and Ride lot in Newburyport, on Route 113 just off Interstate 95, is primarily meant to be a commuter lot "or a long-term parking lot for nearby Newburyport residents."
"It seems more than ever that 75-80 percent of the cars stay for days/weeks on end, leaving very few slots available for daily commuters," she wrote in an e-mail.
"This becomes especially noticeable after snowstorms, when you can see which cars are snowed in because they haven't been used for long periods of time. And, on Christmas day, as we drove past, the lot was nearly full - probably not commuters.
"If the lot is being subsidized for commuting purposes, it doesn't seem to be filling its primary mission."
Jalbert points out that the lots are not just for commuters, but those taking buses and trains to Logan Airport for longer trips. He said there is a 28-day limit on parking.
He said there is a long-term plan to increase the capacity of the Newburyport Park-and-Ride lot by 25 percent, but the project is only in the planning stages.
Transportation comments and questions may be sent to starts@globe.com.
