# Long-term parking at Ann Arbor, MI station



## brazzman (Jul 2, 2012)

Has anybody had bad experiences from leaving their car parked there for up to 2 weeks? I guess I'm talking about break-ins, vandalism or total theft.


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## SarahZ (Jul 2, 2012)

The longest I ever parked there was four days. Nothing happened to my car.


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## PerRock (Jul 2, 2012)

Ann Arbor is a pretty safe town, I've left my car there for a while before. As long as you lock it & keep your valuables out of sight it should be fine. Any thief in A2 is just going to look for an unlocked car (there are so many in the city.

peter

PS. oh and just an FYI, the ARB long term lot is across the tracks from the station. You have to use the Broadway bridge to get to & from it.


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## Don (Jul 2, 2012)

I have use the Ann Arbor lot many times. No prob, except it gets really full sometimes.


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## PerRock (Jul 2, 2012)

Also, if you live in ARB (or have friends in town). You could leave your car at home (or at your friends) and take the bus to the station; #17 from Blake takes you right there.

peter


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## brazzman (Jul 2, 2012)

Thanks all for your comments and reassurances. Since my train from Chicago arrives in Ann Arbor at about 11:30 pm, I originally asked a friend to meet me with her car. The other option which prompted this post was to just park my car there for two weeks and not bother anybody about picking me up at that late hour. The third idea is to have a friend take my car and park it in the short term lot the afternoon of my arrival. Or whatever constitutes "short term" there at the station which I can probably call and find out.


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## brazzman (Jul 12, 2012)

brazzman said:


> Thanks all for your comments and reassurances. Since my train from Chicago arrives in Ann Arbor at about 11:30 pm, I originally asked a friend to meet me with her car. The other option which prompted this post was to just park my car there for two weeks and not bother anybody about picking me up at that late hour. The third idea is to have a friend take my car and park it in the short term lot the afternoon of my arrival. Or whatever constitutes "short term" there at the station which I can probably call and find out.


As it turns out, the "short term" lot right next to the station building is for 4 hour parking max. Each space has it's own meter and you just load it up with quarters. On another forum I read that this particular lot would allow you to park 24hrs/$5. *Wrong!* There might be other lots in the immediate area with this rate though. Anyway, it's no concern of mine now since I switched my departure station from Ann Arbor to Dearborn. For an additional charge of $10.20 to make the switch. Free parking there in a big lot by the station off Michigan Ave. behind the Dearborn Police Station. Now I can leave my car there for the 2 weeks I'm gone.


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## PerRock (Jul 12, 2012)

The Ann Arbor station has FREE long term parking. It's just across the tracks. Simple drive up and over the Broadway bridge (that's the one that goes over the station) then make an imediet left turn into the first drive there is, stay to the left so your driving back down towards the station (but not on the bridge) and find a spot for your car among the others parked along over there. Then walk back up and over the bridge; there are stairs that'll take you down to the platform. I'm pretty certain the long term lot is labeled as well.

My map of Ann Arbor Railroads shows the location of both the station & the long term lot:

http://goo.gl/maps/2ZhD

peter

PS; yes the Short Term lot is metered, but the long term lot is not.


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## Lyon1066 (Aug 21, 2013)

I did have two issues with the long-term parking; lack of parking spots and damage to my Jeep.

We had a lack of long-term parking on a Friday evening. I had to park at the back of the lot, on the grass. The lot had many more cars than spots for parking! 

During the weekend, the car next to me had been pushed into my Jeep, denting the door. We found this when returning the following Tuesday from Chicago. It was apparent that the long-term parking lot is not monitored. Please note that the car that was pushed into mine also had been broken into. The driver side window had been broken. However, I do not know how long the car had been left there.

I will not leave my car at the Ann Arbor station until it's improved! I have heard the Dearborn station has a much better parking lot. Perhaps it's worth the extra 15 mins travel time to leave from Dearborn. :unsure:

I would enjoy any feedback on options for future use of the Ann Arbor station. I would like to continue to use the train for future trips.

John


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## GrillePhone (Aug 21, 2013)

How much is a taxi ride from the station to your home? $20, $30, or $40?

As long as I'm asking, how much is a taxi ride from the Amtrak Ann Arbor station to University of Michigan(near the football field). Thanks!


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## PerRock (Aug 21, 2013)

Not sure about taxis, but the A3TA (used to be AATA) runs a bus from the Blake Transit Center, downtown, to the Amtrak station. If memory serves me, it's the #17 bus.

peter


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## SarahZ (Aug 21, 2013)

I would imagine a taxi ride from the station to the football field would cost approximately $10-15.

John - I'm sorry about your car. The lot does get very crowded on weekends. I'm not sure about crowding at Dearborn, but they do have a very nice, big, open lot. I'm traveling there tomorrow and will take some photos for you when I leave on Friday night (when it's sure to be at its fullest).


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## Lyon1066 (Aug 22, 2013)

Thanks for the quick feedback. I am not certain about options for Taxis from my home....I am in the country. I suppose if there were other lots in the A^2 area, one could park there and ride a Bus/Cab. As for the photo of Dearborn, that would be cool. I would think others could get a use from that.


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## DanaE (Aug 22, 2013)

The correct way is to park the car in the Amtrak long-term lot from across the tracks, then walk on the bridge back to the station.

However, I've seen people was directly across the tracks. 

By the way, the lot does become completely full sometimes. Has happened twice in June and July. Fortunately, I got there really early, so I ended up driving home and pick up my neighbor. She drove my car back for me.


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## SarahZ (Aug 25, 2013)

Unfortunately, I ended up driving to Redford, so I didn't get any pics of the parking lot.

Here's a street view, though:

http://goo.gl/maps/WltRd


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## PerRock (Aug 25, 2013)

Lyon1066 said:


> Thanks for the quick feedback. I am not certain about options for Taxis from my home....I am in the country. I suppose if there were other lots in the A^2 area, one could park there and ride a Bus/Cab. As for the photo of Dearborn, that would be cool. I would think others could get a use from that.


There are plenty of parking lots downtown, there are 3 on next to the main bus depot (Blake). However you will have to pay for all of them, and there probably is a limit to how long you could park there. I'm not sure, but there might be a long-term lot at the Greyhound station, or you might be able to park long-term at the MegaBus Lot, given those choices, the MegaBus lot would probably be the best; but I don't know for certain if you can park long term there, the lot is owned by UofM. I'll get back to you.

peter

Edit: The MegaBus lot has 14 spots designated (in a larger lot) for their customers, for 48hrs. The DDA, doesn't state on their website a maximum time allowed in their lots, but you still have to pay.


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## Lyon1066 (Aug 26, 2013)

Wow..the Dearborn station is much better looking! That's more what I expected of the Ann Arbor station. I know that they are land-locked in A^2...they should partner with one of the bus operations to share the parking spaces.


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## SarahZ (Aug 26, 2013)

The big issue with Ann Arbor is that the station is a billion years old. The Gandy Dancer restaurant (next to the current station) was the original train station. Between that and all of the hospital/residential land already in place, it's pretty hard to expand the parking lot next to the station. The parking lot across the tracks really is their best option unless they want to use shuttle buses from another lot (doubtful).

I remember that parking lot filling up very quickly on weekends and then having to haul my luggage up the stairs to the pedestrian bridge. For that reason alone, it's almost worth it to make the drive to Dearborn.


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## red9seven (Apr 11, 2017)

The real problem with long term parking at the Amtrak station is there is none during the day. Since it is an open lot, people working at the University or in town fill it early in the morning and depart in the evening. I don't understand why Amtrak doesn't set up a restricted system for their customers. I'm sure a towing company would be glad to handle the details - there's plenty of potential business for them.

The voice message on the Ann Arbor station phone (they don't pick up) says that it's crowded on weekends. This is dated since it's crowded every day!


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## niemi24s (Apr 12, 2017)

GrillePhone said:


> How much is a taxi ride from the station to your home?


Here's one way to get a fairly good estimate: https://www.taxifarefinder.com/?lang=en


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