Nzinga Baker, Vice President, Union Station Redevelopment Corporation has clarified the new drop-off/pick-up/off-site parking system to take effect no earlier than April 1.

Union Station is not charging buses merely to drop-off and pickup. The fee is for a 4-step process:

Step 1) drop-off at Union Station,
Step 2) drive to offsite lot?less than 10 minutes from Union Station,
Step 3) park at offsite lot with option to use drivers lounge – the driver’s lounge will have TV, couches, bathrooms/showers, food services, quiet room.
Step 4) return to Union Station and pick up

If you only do Step 1 and Step 4, there is not now, nor will there be a charge. Only doing all four steps will require payment.

Currently, the $50 daily rate is being reevaluated in favor of a stepped rate structure that keeps daily rates closer to the current $20 daily rate.? Stay tuned for more information.

Union Station Bus Deck will have 30-35 slips available for motor coach parking through March 31 at the $20 daily rate.  The rate at the offsite lot is still being evaluated. Based on operator feedback, the $50 daily rate is being reevaluated in favor of a stepped rate structure that keeps daily rates closer to the current $20 daily rate.

This news modifies the items in CAPS in the following information we provided in October 2011. The rest of that report remains correct:

Union Station still permits bus parking, for the moment still at $20. Buses now must enter and exit from H Street.

In the future (AT THIS POINT NOT LATER THAN MARCH 1, 2012) the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation (USRC), working with the local government of Washington, D.C. will switch to a peak season regime as follows:

no bus parking at Union Station.

FOR A FEE OF $50, buses will be permitted to drop off/pick up at Union Station and be able to park at an off-site lot. The location of the lot is still being negotiated, but it is likely to be close to New York Avenue, NE.

At present USRC is experimenting to find the right number of slots to offer to charter buses during non-peak times, in other words, at times other than Spring-early Summer each year. Fees WILL RISE FROM $20 TO $50 at a date yet to be determined.

Ms. Baker also tells us that a new Bus Deck Facility Manager has been appointed:
Jeff Brown, Bus Facility Manager
USPG, LLC
(202) 430-2437