Fairfax County opens survey seeking input on curbside parking in Tysons

Updated at 3:55 p.m. Fairfax County is seeking public feedback about people’s parking habits and priorities in Tysons and Reston with a survey available now in English and Spanish until the end of July.

County staff are using the online survey to help establish a managed parking program in the Tysons Urban Center and Reston Transit Station Areas, which they hope will address issues ranging from limited parking options to avoiding vehicles reportedly remaining in spaces for weeks at a time.

Fairfax County currently has no paid on-street parking meters and collects no money in on-street parking revenue. Parking meters are on private streets, the county notes.

In addition to asking about people’s current parking habits, the survey tells respondents to prioritize five factors that affect when and where they decide to park:

• Lowest price or free
• Proximity of parking to desired location
• Flexible payment options (credit cards, smartphone apps)
• Ability to pay with cash
• Overnight parking is allowed for free

The county is looking to get input from both commuters and residents. In addition to filling out the survey, community members can submit comments through an online feedback form, by mail to the Fairfax County Department of Transportation, and by calling 703-877-5600.

The survey will build on the results of a two-year study that FCDOT conducted to look at the availability of on-street parking on state-owned roads in Tysons and Reston.

In Tysons, the study found 1,272 on-street parking spaces along 22 miles of curb, amounting to 29% of the available space. Recommendations included implementing timed or paid parking near Metro stations to encourage turnover and addressing issues with commercial vehicles parking in front of businesses.

The county is looking to support businesses with “shorter duration parking and parking space turnover,” according to a page about the survey.

“Ultimately, the goal is to provide parking that supports the mixed-use development in these increasingly-urban areas of the County,” FCDOT said in a news release.

County staff is slated to use the information from the survey to propose policy and ordinance changes to the Board of Supervisors next year. FCDOT says the managed parking plans will mostly not take effect until new grids of streets are built in Tysons and Reston and accepted by the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Correction: This article has been updated to show when county staff expect to recommend ordinance changes.

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