This is what I mean, along with handicap parking and carpool drop-off areas:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DE3BI8iyMkw/?igsh=aW9td3p2dWY1NzFh
@anon8787296 Could you recommend your new colleagues to consider these changes to street parking within downtown, if they make the 2-hr free parking permanent?
When you eliminate parking, people will find a way. I am just joking. From The Woodlands TX to Rhode Island just this week. But just how does this happen?
I think there’s a cheat code like in GTA?
“Excuse me sir, but you can’t park there!”
It’s too crowded, nobody parks there anymore.
Raleigh’s 2-Hour Free Parking Program Shows Strong Community Support,
Boosts Downtown Business Economy
RALEIGH, NC – Findings from a new survey and focus group report on Raleigh’s 2-hour free parking pilot
program reveal overwhelming support from both the community and downtown business owners.
Launched in November 2024 and slated to continue through the end of February 2025, the pilot program offers free
2-hour parking during the weekdays in five city-owned Downtown Raleigh decks.
Downtown Raleigh Alliance recently completed a comprehensive community engagement and feedback process
including focus groups and community surveys to determine the efficacy of the pilot program.
The community survey, which collected feedback from over 700 respondents, indicates that:
• 88% of community members believe offering two hours of free parking increases their likelihood of
visiting downtown.
• 95% of respondents favor the pilot program’s continuation, demonstrating that it has proven effective in
increasing visitation to downtown and supporting local businesses.
Meanwhile, the survey of business owners and managers yielded similarly positive results on the impact of this
program:
• 91% of storefront businesses said the free parking program positively impacts the sales and health of their
business.
• 97% of storefront businesses support making the program permanent to help boost downtown’s economy.
The survey results also emphasize the importance of parking for customers:
• 82% of businesses indicated that 70% or more of their customers park downtown when visiting their
business.
• A further subset of 53% of businesses indicated that 90% or more of their customers park downtown when
visiting their business.
In addition to supporting the program, 95% of storefront businesses also expressed support for the continuation of
the Small Business Parking Relief Program, demonstrating the positive impact that targeted parking solutions have
on Raleigh’s local economy.
Other success stories from focus groups included anecdotal feedback such as businesses saying their fitness classes
were now selling out, run clubs hosted at downtown businesses were dramatically increasing in size, office tenants
feeling more likely to continue their leases due to their clients being able to visit easier, and customers staying in
downtown longer because of less stress about parking costs.
Additionally, the City of Raleigh’s initial parking data shows an increase in parking deck users in December (+26%)
and January (+29%).
“Parking is a top concern for our customers, and the 2-hour free parking program has already made a noticeable
difference,” said Anna Grace FitzGerald, a downtown business owner. “This pilot program encourages more foot
traffic, and we hope our city leadership will continue the program. An investment in Downtown Raleigh is an
investment in the success of our entire city and is a win for all of us.”
Bill King, President and CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, emphasized the significance of the findings. “The
results speak for themselves. This pilot program is driving more people into downtown, which is helping businesses
thrive and making the area more vibrant. We’re excited to see such strong support from both visitors and business
owners, and we are committed to making this program a permanent fixture in our community.”
“There’s still more to explore, particularly when it comes to managing parking demand in the future, but the
feedback we’ve received so far tells us we’re heading in the right direction,” added King. “Our goal is to create a
balanced parking system that benefits everyone—residents, visitors, and business owners alike.”
I’m not passionately for or against this thing but how could visitors and businesses be against this? Aren’t these results not surprising?
The tradeoff is the lost parking revenue. I hope council takes it from some other department, like road widenings. 
I’d like to see all parking downtown be free. I can’t imagine a giant portion of Raleigh revenue is from downtown parking fees. If they’re worried about car turnover, just use the parking meters still but don’t charge any money.
Btw DT Durham has longer hours of paid parking and the rates are higher. It’s honestly kind of surprising when you see the price. I know a lot of businesses there are facing challenges because of it. Maybe different demographics than Raleigh, but their city leaders seem hell bent on getting that revenue.
Do you, or anyone have an idea of what the city still owes for the parking garages? Those things aren’t cheap, and I’d bet they were debt financed.
In a perfect world, I’d like to see drivers pay for the cost of parking garages. But if free parking drives more activity downtown while residential gets filled in over the years, then I can get behind it.
It’s not lost on me that there’s enthusiasm to continue with 2 hours of free parking for suburbanites while the city has started charging a fare for the RLine that downtown residents use.
Transit always has its feet held to the fire to financially justify itself, yet driving and parking is always assumed to be free.
Couldn’t they just apply some of the funds form the tourism tax to cover the lost revenue of the 2 hours of free parking? Would seem like a logical fit.
FY24 proposed budget says
$4.1M principal
$1.9M interest
=$6M in parking debt service requirements
FY23 adopted budget for Parking Fund – on-street (1650 [!] metered spaces, enforcement) + almost 9000 off-street spaces + DRA safety patrols
$5.6M in direct operating expenditures
$3M in personnel and benefits costs
$400K in capex and special projects
=$9M in expenses
-$15M in revenues
-$6M in debt service
= roughly break-even
Besides capex (and opportunity cost!) parking garage spaces cost $1-2/day for operations and maintenance; that’s from a private source, but Durham spends $1.16 per space per day on maintenance and repairs alone.
Yeah, so if a deck has 200 spaces, that’s $73k/yr to maintain. I bet the city portion of sales tax of the visitors covers is easily, not to mention all the other benefits of having more people downtown. As much as it pains some folks, most of Raleigh doesn’t live downtown and is likely driving in to patronize the various businesses and events. Making it a given that parking is always free takes away a big reason people are hesitant to go downtown.
I bet the city’s rates are much cheaper than the private decks/lots. I’d like to see what a
breakdown with the 2 hour free parking but the base rates increase slightly. Maybe that might cover the shortfall.
If you look at the next tier of suburban sprawl cities, charging for parking in places like Fenton and North Hills will eventually become a reality. This is already true for higher density suburban retail development in places like Atlanta and Miami. Even SouthPark in Charlotte has a limit on its free parking by charging after 3 hours.
I think a 2 hour free downtown parking program is good for people visiting an office or eating out and getting suburbanites to frequent the downtown restaurants they might not normally visit. Downtown needs support for its retailers and restaurants from the entire city not just those who can walk over. As for Southpark in Charlotte they have never charged for parking and only a few of the office buildings have garages with controlled access. As for North Hills I don’t see them charging for parking anytime soon either but I could see blocking off certain spaces for the office tenants to use via controlled access and have retail customers park elsewhere for free. (They might already do that as I usually park outside when on the east side of NH by the Chuys or elsewhere.)
If you read ‘The High Cost of Free Parking’, you’ll understand that having structured parking that doesn’t directly charge for parking doesn’t mean the cost disappears; it’s simply shifted to higher rents for tenants, which in turn leads to higher retail prices. I want to clarify that I don’t think landlords would reduce rent if paid parking became a revenue source, but the idea that “free parking” is beneficial for downtown because suburban residents can conveniently drive in is a misconception. I have no issue with the program as a temporary solution while downtown evolves with more residents. The number of projects nearing completion and currently under construction suggests we’re reaching a point where local businesses won’t rely on suburban residents for success.
You mean all the empty ground floor retail downtown, or the ones where tenants last a year or two before closing? Seems like they could use some more customers.
The presence of empty storefronts or businesses closing down is not necessarily indicative of a struggling downtown retail environment. Even in major cities like New York City, it’s common to see vacancies or businesses closing for various reasons.
This is part of the natural ebb and flow of the retail market, where some businesses close due to relocation, changes in consumer preferences, or strategic shifts. At the same time, new businesses often emerge to take their place, contributing to the dynamic and evolving nature of urban retail landscapes.
Overall, some empty storefronts are often just a reflection of the ongoing transitions that are a normal part of any vibrant downtown economy.
