SEPTA will end free parking at Regional Rail lots and increase prices. Here’s what it will cost you.

More than four years of free parking for SEPTA riders is scheduled to end Sept. 23 at Regional Rail surface lots and garages at Lansdale Station and the Frankford and Norristown Transportation Centers.

Parking fees also are set to double, though they were dirt cheap in the pre-pandemic days. In early 2020, SEPTA stopped charging for parking in hopes of attracting riders driven off by initial shutdowns and changed commuting patterns.

A spot in the surface lots will rise to $2 daily, from $1. Garage space will cost $4 a day instead of $2.

“We’re still a pretty good deal,” Elizabeth Smith, chief of staff for the transportation authority, said.

SEPTA plans to phase in the parking changes over the next 2½ months at 96 surface lots and the three garages. Overall, there are 135 lots, but the rest of them have limited parking spaces, though they could be included later, spokesperson Kelly Greene said.

Parking will remain free on weekends and major holidays.

Methods of payment will be modernized. No more dropping quarters into a metal box slots that correspond to your parking space in a surface lot.

A new SEPTA Park app will allow travelers to pay by license plate number and run to the train, deducting the cost of parking without waiting in line. People will also have the option to pay by text message, officials said, and kiosks will accept credit and debit cards and coins.

The agency in June awarded a $12.3 million contract to Flowbird America Inc. to build and manage the payment system. The company also handles app payments for the Philadelphia Parking Authority and its counterparts in other large cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.

SEPTA projects it will collect about $6 million in parking fees annually, Smith said. The money will be used to help pay for the upgrades and lot maintenance — and remaining funds could fill gaps in the operating budget “in the long run,” she said.

The last of SEPTA’s federal pandemic aid is running out, and a steady source of additional funding for the state’s transit systems has not materialized in Harrisburg.

“We know this is going to impact riders, but we hope they see the value in public transit,” Smith said. Even with a parking fee on top of train fare, “it’s still cheaper than driving into the city and parking.”

Discussion of bringing back parking fees began in the spring during public hearings on SEPTA’s budget.

Scheduled first for parking makeovers: Jenkintown-Wyncote Station, Fern Rock Transportation Center, and Glenside Station.

Details of the new payment options and how to sign up will be posted to SEPTA’s website soon, Greene said. An advertising push, including on social media, and new station signs warning riders of the changes will follow. As the changes come online, SEPTA ambassadors will be on hand to help people adapt.

Illegal parking in a SEPTA lot or garage carries a $10 fine — but officials say they are going to issue warnings at first.