Illegally parked vehicles will be towed from the South Surrey Park and Ride as of next Monday after several months of warnings from TransLink and Coast Mountain Bus Co. (CMBC).

"With cars double-parked on the roadway, our buses are having difficulty at times getting through safely," says Tom Fink, director of transit service design for CMBC. "What's more, customers who had parked their vehicles legally are returning to find they're boxed-in."

Since last October, the companies have been warning the public about parking illegally at the lot.

Awareness efforts included placing leaflets on windshields, asking customers not to park illegally and advising them of transit alternatives. TransLink also painted yellow curbs, put up signs warning customers their vehicles could be towed and placed notices in the shelters. They also had CMBC information officers at the site talking to customers.

TransLink's TravelSmart program set aside 13 stalls reserved for carpools and CMBC re-painted the lines to increase the number of parking stalls from 425 to 481.

As a result of these efforts, they saw illegally parked vehicles drop from a high of about 90 a day to between 30 and 40 during the peak now, but say the number just isn't low enough.

As a final warning, a tow truck is expected to be at the park and ride during morning rush hours this week and the towing will begin Monday (June 25).

"This is not a decision we wanted to make, but for the sake of our customers' safety and operational efficiency, we're left with no choice," Fink said, adding that they are looking at ways to accommodate more vehicles, but are not able to expand at this time.

Customers are encouraged to consider alternatives, such as taking the #321 White Rock Centre/Surrey Central and #394 White Rock Centre/King George Station to the park and ride, or parking elsewhere on or near King George Boulevard or 152nd Street, where it is legal to do so.