A hearty congratulations to the City of Charlotte for increasing parking meter rates from $1.00 to $1.50—the first increase since 1997!— on July 1, and adding Saturday as a paid parking day come September! I’m beyond proud to have led the parking study that got the ball rolling.
Charlotte was my biggest data collection effort to date. My team observed about 2,600 parking spaces once per hour for 15 hours over three days, a total of 117,000 observations(!). We walked about 1,300 miles in the process. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that the buck-an-hour parking was just too much of a bargain for a place as lively as Uptown. Crucially, this fee was much lower than the privately-run decks in Uptown charge, ensuring an overburdened street system.
And on Saturdays, where all on-street parking was free? Sky-high demand rates all day, along with all the associated problems. It was a textbook example of how free parking in high-demand areas benefits no one (well, except the small handful of people that get there early and park all day!).
While I never recommend a rate increase lightly, I do so when it is necessary, and our study showed that it clearly was. Raising parking rates always comes with its share of sound and fury, but this is absolutely the right move for Charlotte, which is far too great a city to have some of the cheapest street parking in the country. Kudos to the city staff and leadership for getting it done!