In August, King County officials spoke of plans for a permit system to reduce overcrowding at county park-and-ride lots.

The program will finally come to fruition in February, when the county will begin reserving carpool-only parking spaces before 8:30 a.m. on weekdays. The permits will be free, and are for cars with groups of two or more riders who regularly ride the bus or use the lots to meet a carpool.

The pilot program, which begins on Feb. 1, will be tested in six of the busiest lots in King County, including South Kirkland, Redmond, South Renton, Issaquah Highlands, Northgate and Eastgate.

The county doesn’t have immediate plans for additional lots, but the idea is to add park-and-rides if the program goes according to plan.

Scott Gutierrez with King County DOT communications said the number of carpool-only parking spaces will be based on the number of permits issued, and the county expects 5 percent of spaces will be designated as carpool-only once the program reaches maturity.

Reserved spaces will be capped at 50 percent of each lot, Gutierrez said.

Most park-and-ride spaces will still be available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to a Jan. 4 King County release. Drivers who park in reserved spaces without a permit will be subject to two warnings before the vehicle is towed.

The new program coincides with Metro’s efforts to step up enforcement in park-and-rides, cutting down on the number of drivers using the park-and-ride as a regular lot.

Permits are available through Republic Parking Northwest. Applicants must provide basic contact information, ORCA card numbers, vanpool ID or RideshareOnline.com email for each member of the carpool.

More information cam be found at Metro’s permit parking website.