DOVER � The bus company that operates the Portsmouth and Dover bus centers wants the state to commit to a long-term lease that will allow it to charge for parking it says is needed to manage and expand parking that is often beyond capacity.

The letter of interest submitted by C&J Bus Lines of Portsmouth is one of seven the state received last month seeking a public-private partnership with the state focused on transportation infrastructure. The proposals range from creating rest areas to building a parking garage off the highway in Manchester to the privatization of the turnpike system. Most of these initial proposals did not move forward.

The call for the letters of interest stems from Senate Bill 549, which was signed into law by then-Gov. Maggie Hassan in 2016 and established the Public-Private Partnership Infrastructure Oversight Commission. The seven-member commission �shall consider and recommend to the commissioner of transportation projects that may be suitable for delivery using design-build-finance-operate-maintain or design-build-operate-maintain services,� according to the law.

The commission met last month to review proposals and agreed two were developed enough to move to the request for proposal (RFP) stage. Both revolved around bus facilities. The C&J Bus Lines proposal and one from Concord Coach Lines. Concord Coach, like C&J, is also seeking a long-term lease deal with the state for two Interstate 93 bus terminals, which are currently leased by Boston Express. Boston Express is owned by the same person who owns Concord Coach: Harry Blunt.

The proposal from C&J Bus Lines, owned by Jim Jalbert, cites the ongoing parking challenges at the Dover facility on Indian Brook Drive off Exit 9 of the Spaulding Turnpike, and at the Portsmouth facility at Pease International Tradeport, located off Exit 3A of I-95.

The Portsmouth facility has 1,210 marked spaces, while Dover has 414, all which are free to use. In his application, Jalbert states the cars parked at each bus depot exceed available spaces for more than 180 days of the year.

�Free parking has resulted in the abuse of the facilities,� Jalbert states.

Because of the parking lots often being beyond capacity, C&J has leased other parking areas and uses valet parking as a way to mitigate the current parking challenges, which Jalbert said is financially unsustainable.

But he says there is little state funding, if any, for parking expansion at either location.

�The applicant proposes to solve this problem with the introduction of fee-based parking,� Jalbert states in his application. By having a fee-based system, it will allow C&J Bus Lines to better manage parking, and with a long-term lease, it would be able to obtain financing for parking expansion, according to the application.

Jalbert, in an interview with Seacoast Sunday, said he wouldn�t disclose how long a lease he sought, other than to say �a long time,� nor how much he would be willing to pay for such a lease. He said if the state agreed to an extended contract, it would put it out to bid, and he did not want potential competitors to know his plans.

The lease he is seeking is presumably longer than the current 10-year leases C&J has now for operation of the two parking areas.

According to the state Department of Transportation, the Portsmouth facility was re-authorized in 2016, and the Dover facility was authorized in 2008.

Jalbert believes charging for parking will allow C&J to better manage the available spaces. In his application, Jalbert cited free parking lots in the Los Angeles area that moved to a paid system for the same reason. After the change, the parking manager said in a news article there had seen no adverse impact after a fee was imposed.

Not all who park at the Dover and Portsmouth facilities use it for the bus transportation, which are both listed with the DOT as park-and-ride locations. Jalbert estimates about 80 percent of those who park in Dover ride the bus where in Portsmouth its 65 to 70 percent. Currently, he employs one valet person at the Dover lot and 12 at the Portsmouth lot. The company leases other lots for vehicle storage, both of which are "cost-prohibitive."

�It�s not sustainable in the long term,� Jalbert said.

C&J wants to expand the Dover parking by 150 spaces and the Portsmouth one by 400 to 500 spaces, it states in the application. If the state were to award the project by June 30 of this year, it could have the project complete by June 2019.

How long it will take for the commission to come to a decision is not clear. The commission meets again Friday.