YNHH lowers parking costs, increases transportation benefits

Employees waited for the YNHH shuttle to take them to off-site parking lots on a recent afternoon. Employees now pay less for parking and alternative transportation such as buses and trains as part of enhanced benefits the hospital launched this year. Construction projects planned or underway in New Haven include additional employee parking to alleviate a shortage.

In response to employees’ concerns and suggestions, Yale New Haven Hospital  has reduced the cost of parking and alternative transportation for employees, and more enhancements are on the way. The new rates took effect Jan. 1 and will be frozen for two years.

Employees parking within the City of New Haven now pay between $1.75 and $13 a month less for parking, with the largest cost reductions for lots farthest from the hospital (including the Sherman-Tyler, Sherman-Orchard and Coliseum lots). Employees parking in these lots, which are served by YNHH shuttles, now pay $38 a month – 25 percent less than the previous $51 monthly rate.

Other parking cost changes include:

• Employees parking in lots within walking distance to the hospital campuses (no shuttle service needed) pay $56 a month, down from $59 a month.
• Restricted-access parking (nights and weekends only) now costs $36 a month, down from $38.25.
• Employees who park in lots or garages attached or close to their work sites pay $58 a month, down from $61.
• Employees parking at Yale New Haven Psychiatric Hospital lot #47 now pay $52 a month, down from $55.

In response to employees’ concerns about parking shortages, YNHH will add 600 spaces when the new Continuum of Care garage, between North Frontage Road and Legion Avenue, opens later this calendar year. The Saint Raphael Campus neurosciences building project also includes more employee parking.

In addition to parking enhancements and rate reductions, the hospital has significantly increased the amount it reimburses employees who use alternative transportation. Previously, YNHH paid up to $50 per month (or 60 percent) for train or bus passes; the hospital now pays up to $100 a month for any alternative transportation option, and has eliminated the 60 percent cap.

That means zero cost to employees who take the CTtransit bus system instead of driving to work. Employees will receive a mailing in the coming weeks with information about YNHH’s Transportation Demand Management program benefits.

The reduced costs and parking and transportation enhancements are part of the 2020 benefits and compensation enhancements announced last fall.

“We know that parking has been an employee concern for some time, but the demand for parking in downtown New Haven has made finding solutions a challenge,” said YNHH President Richard D’Aquila. “We hope that by adding spaces, lowering parking costs and enhancing the benefit the hospital provides for alternative transportation, we can help reduce the financial burden on our employees, make travel to work more convenient and support the excellent work they do every day.”