The Sound Transit board of directors has approved a pilot program to test the use of parking permits in four of its park-and-ride facilities, including Issaquah’s transit center.

The voluntary program, set to begin in 2014, would guarantee users of the parking lot a space for a fee of $5 per quarter for high occupancy vehicles, and $33 per quarter for single occupancy vehicles. The program would allow for 10 percent of spaces to be set aside initially, perhaps 20 percent later.

According to Sound Transit, as of May 2013, 13 of 23 Sound Transit-operated customer parking facilities were at or above 90 percent capacity. Demand for park-and-ride spaces will continue to increase as transit service expands and regional population and employment grow. Sound Transit currently manages more than 13,000 parking spaces. By 2020 that number is expected to exceed 19,000 parking spaces.

“Sound Transit has had concerns over parking for a number of years,” said Sound Transit board member and Issaquah City Council member Fred Butler. “Part of our concern is that we know that a lot of non-transit users use the park and ride lots. This gives transit users the right to have a guaranteed spot.”

Butler said people will meet at a park and ride facility, then take off together in one vehicle, never using mass transit at all.

Sound Transit also is looking at installing technology that lets motorists know how many, if any, spaces are available in a given lot. This will hopefully cut down on people circling a parking lot searching for an available space

Butler said the Sound Transit Board still has some implementing decisions to make.