Going downtown? Increased parking fees shock...

[BridgeTroll]

Fewer and fewer reasons to spend time downtown...

Parking has quadrupled at meters downtown...

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/04/07/parking-meter-prices-quadruple-in-downtown-jacksonville/

Garages have also increased rates and a 50% discount for city employees eliminated.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-votes-to-increase-monthly-parking-rates-in-city-garages-lots#:~:text=The%20DIA%20approved%20an%20additional,1%2C%202021.

[landfall]

JEA and Vystar plan to add an extra what 1300 spaces or something over the next year as well?

All aboard the clown cars!

[tufsu1]

Fewer and fewer reasons to spend time downtown...

Parking has quadrupled at meters downtown...

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/04/07/parking-meter-prices-quadruple-in-downtown-jacksonville/

Garages have also increased rates and a 50% discount for city employees eliminated.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-votes-to-increase-monthly-parking-rates-in-city-garages-lots#:~:text=The%20DIA%20approved%20an%20additional,1%2C%202021.

the sudden rise is unfortunate - but the meters were far too cheap before. Seems to me that $1.00 / hour is still cheap, but that might have been a better starting point for 2021.

[Charles Hunter]

Since the COJ site doesn't list parking meter rates, I found this site that lets you enter an address to find nearby parking on the street, or off.
https://en.parkopedia.com/parking/locations/214_hogan_street_jacksonville_florida_32202_united_states_a7hhdjmutc0t3yn05h/?country=us&arriving=202106021100&leaving=202106021300

Why doesn't the COJ site provide more information?
This private site says the limit at meters in the core is two hours. How are people parking all day at a meter?  Where is Parking Enforcement?  It seems the technology should be available* for a meter to tell whether cars are coming and going at a space, or whether a car is camping out at a space all day, and charge accordingly - reasonably cheap rates for short term, and rates designed to discourage all-day parking at a street meter.

* seems more attainable tech than U2Cs

[MusicMan]

Make parking downtown free

[Zac T]

Make parking downtown free

With all the new residents downtown, I think this would be a bad idea as most of them would just leave their car on the street all day rather than park in a garage. I think that most people that are already planning on going downtown will come downtown regardless of whether or not the rates have increased. Jax is still way cheaper than most other cities

[thelakelander]

Fewer and fewer reasons to spend time downtown...

Parking has quadrupled at meters downtown...

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/04/07/parking-meter-prices-quadruple-in-downtown-jacksonville/

Garages have also increased rates and a 50% discount for city employees eliminated.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-votes-to-increase-monthly-parking-rates-in-city-garages-lots#:~:text=The%20DIA%20approved%20an%20additional,1%2C%202021.

the sudden rise is unfortunate - but the meters were far too cheap before. Seems to me that $1.00 / hour is still cheap, but that might have been a better starting point for 2021.

I have always thought this was a problem that wasn't a real problem in downtown. With the impact of Covid, it surely isn't one now. The way I see it, the places we continuously compare rates too are also a lot more vibrant than our downtown is. I'd prefer us, get ourselves to a competitive level of vibrancy before we start doing things like raising prices. Given the state of downtown, one could easily make an argument that all on-street parking should be free.

[thelakelander]

Make parking downtown free

With all the new residents downtown, I think this would be a bad idea as most of them would just leave their car on the street all day rather than park in a garage. I think that most people that are already planning on going downtown will come downtown regardless of whether or not the rates have increased. Jax is still way cheaper than most other cities

You can have free on-street parking, yet still have time limits. If anything, raising the meter rates are more of a money grab to help support operations, than actually encouraging parking turnover.

[marcuscnelson]

There's an argument that raising rate selectively could have pushed Skyway ridership, but seeing as we're now about to suspend service for several years, I'm not sure that still makes sense.

In the end, I'm personally fine with higher rates provided we're aggressively working to provide alternatives for commuters & visitors and increasing the number of people who don't need to park on the street.

[BridgeTroll]

Fewer and fewer reasons to spend time downtown...

Parking has quadrupled at meters downtown...

https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/04/07/parking-meter-prices-quadruple-in-downtown-jacksonville/

Garages have also increased rates and a 50% discount for city employees eliminated.

https://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/article/dia-votes-to-increase-monthly-parking-rates-in-city-garages-lots#:~:text=The%20DIA%20approved%20an%20additional,1%2C%202021.

the sudden rise is unfortunate - but the meters were far too cheap before. Seems to me that $1.00 / hour is still cheap, but that might have been a better starting point for 2021.

I have always thought this was a problem that wasn't a real problem in downtown. With the impact of Covid, it surely isn't one now. The way I see it, the places we continuously compare rates too are also a lot more vibrant than our downtown is. I'd prefer us, get ourselves to a competitive level of vibrancy before we start doing things like raising prices. Given the state of downtown, one could easily make an argument that all on-street parking should be free.

This. As usual Ennis is spot on.

[jaxlongtimer]

You can have free on-street parking, yet still have time limits. If anything, raising the meter rates are more of a money grab to help support operations, than actually encouraging parking turnover.

One problem with 2 hour time limits is sometimes one can't get business done in 2 hours.  This is especially true when visiting the courthouse, the building department, City Hall, a law office, CPA or maybe even seeing a banker.  It can also apply to a business lunch in which a deal is being discussed.  I think that 4 hours is a better limit.  This would still discourage all day parkers including employees who typically work at least an 8 hour day, maybe longer if a lunch hour is taken.

They definitely should not charge "event" rates after 5 or 6 PM at this point as the theaters and the arts along with dinner venues need all the support they can get for now.  Also, many times meetings, especially the City Council, are held at day's end to encourage public access/participation and charging for parking to attend those meetings is contrary to the public interest.  Based on my experience, the demand for after 5 PM parking is also very low so it likely wouldn't cover the cost of parking enforcement so why bother charging then.

By the way, the Chamber charges for parking in their lot, even for volunteers.  Just think how welcoming that is to companies visiting Jacksonville.

I believe the real reason for raising rates now is to line the pockets of private parking lot operators who will surely follow suit.  Someone should look at how much they are contributing to the Mayor and City Council campaigns and verify a correlation.  I know every time JIA raises their parking rates, all the airport valet parking companies do the same.  So much for rules against price fixing.

One more "hidden" issue is that when the rates for Downtown parking go up, Downtown employers are required to raise the "fair market value" of the parking benefits they provide to their employees resulting in increased tax liabilities to both employer and employee.

Lastly, it's not like there are many options to getting Downtown on public transit.  If one took the Skyway park and ride, how many hours a day is that available and how often are the headways?  If they operated a shuttle like JIA or Baptist Health do for their remote lots, did it 24 x 7, that might do more for Downtown than all the other options currently being batted around.

[thelakelander]

My employer doesn't cover employee parking. We have to pay out of pocket. I don't plan on ever paying for the privilege to work for someone else in DT Jax. That's one of the  reasons I actually use the Skyway on a regular basis. I park in spots I know that are free but within walking distance of a Skyway station.

[BridgeTroll]

My employer doesn't cover employee parking. We have to pay out of pocket. I don't plan on ever paying for the privilege to work for someone else in DT Jax. That's one of the  reasons I actually use the Skyway on a regular basis. I park in spots I know that are free but within walking distance of a Skyway station.

How many employers downtown do not help with parking costs?  Apparently COJ is stopping their discounts in garages?

[thelakelander]

I'm not sure but I do know that we aren't the only ones.  Needless to say, when leases expires there are several employees that lobby to move to the burbs due to the personal savings.

[heights unknown]

Make parking downtown free

Here here; it was always that way when I was about you guys age and younger. I parked in front of the library about a week or so ago, and yeah, prices seemed high to me, but I needed the space.