ah…creeping home up FoTN on my bike on a sidewalk late at night after being at drinking at PR.
Today council extended the 2 hour free parking pilot downtown through the end of the fiscal year, which I think is 6 months post expiry of the initial pilot that was scheduled to end on Dec. 31st.
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I have used this twice recently and went downtown and spent money so I do think it works for a tourist out of towner like me.
Free parking that actually pays off? Downtown Raleigh Alliance’s weekday free two-hour pilot has boosted accessibility and driven an estimated ~$3.8M million in annual spending across the five participating decks. https://raleighmag.com/2025/12/two-hour-parking-payoff/
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Is the 2 hour free parking still available at select city owned garages downtown? This penny pinching Charlottean is coming next week. I might even eat lunch downtown where ever @GucciLittlePig wants to buy me a lunch.
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Yes! The Raleigh government website has the participating decks:
Two hour free parking is running through June this year.
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I’m only around for dinner but come to the meetup on Thursday if you’re in town! We’re actually planning a Charlotte train trip next month and would love to get some ideas of stuff to do.
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@GucciLittlePig @GucciLittlePenguin taking the train to Charlotte
Thank you @John for getting me a picture of how Jeff takes the train in his car centric life!
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Sounds good just coming up for one night to the Capital City. Let me know when you are coming to the Queen City and I will give you an idea of some places.
Unfortunately I don’t think the AutoTrain makes it to Charlotte from Raleigh though it would be nice .
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The pre-Amtrak Auto Train Corp did try a second route between Louisville and Florida in an attempt to attract drivers from the midwest states. Unsuccessful. Amtrak needs cars in the hundreds per train for the financials to come close to making sense.
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