Parking near silver spring metro or Fort Totten metro? (Home Depot, transfer)

[mishafp]

I have been commuting via MARC from the BWI area this year, but I have finally had it with their constant breakdowns and delays. I'm thinking of driving in and parking near a metro. The problem is that I am not an early bird and don't want to get struck in traffic. The good thing is I can show up at work relatively late, and there should be no issue. I have two questions:

1. How is the parking avaliability near the Silver Spring Metro at like 9AM? I know there are only local city garages- do they fill up by then or are there spaces avaliable?

2. From what I have read, Fort Totten fills up very fast, so I don't think I can make it to one of their normal spots. But the website says the "reserve" spots open up to the general public at 10AM. Do all of those spots fill up most days?

thanks!

[CHIP72]

I was down in Silver Spring a couple Fridays ago to look at housing. I parked in the garage a short distance (about 1 block) east of the Metro station, and it appeared there was a good amount of parking still available, at least at the meters, when I got there around 1 PM.

Wouldn't Greenbelt be a better option if you are coming from the BWI area, or is parking limited there in the mornings? That place has a HUGE lot, and I know back in mid-December when I interviewed for the position I will be filling in a few weeks I parked at Greenbelt and had no problems getting a spot. (This would have been on a Monday.) I'm assuming you need to get somewhere on the Red Line, but with the transfers at Fort Totten and Gallery Place and frequent service at peak times on both the Red and Green Lines, I would think parking at a non-Red Line station would not be a problem.

[mishafp]

Thanks for the information! I have considered the Greenbelt option, but the issue there is I do need to get to the redline and I often stay at work pretty late. In the evenings, when the trains are only running every 15 minutes or so, I could end up waiting for the red line for 15 minutes and then waiting another 15 minutes for the greenline to go to Greenbelt... That isn't a possibility that is too appealing.

[NationsKappatol]

I live near Fort Totten and the streets are one must have a resident parking permit to park on the street. There is not much parking by the metro, but there will be new garages going up shortly at South Dakota and Riggs when they re-do the whole neighborhood with many developments. Sorry if this does not help so much. I do not know if you will get caught or how they check it, but there is a HUGE parking lot by a Giant and Home Depot, right next to the Rhode Island Avenue Metro...that might help.