Say goodbye to free parking on nights, weekends and holidays in downtown Phoenix. Extended meter hours go into effect Monday.
That means you’ll have to pay to park downtown from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every single day. And this is just a warm up to larger changes.
Right now, all meters are $1.50 per hour. But in November, downtown meters will adopt dynamic pricing. That means hourly rates will fluctuate from 50 cents to $4. Matthew Heil is a spokesman for the city. He said these changes will increase parking availability.
"You have one or two spaces always available, based on where the pricing is, in a given area of meters," Heil said. "So, there’s enough for someone to usually be able to find a place to park without having a high level of vacancy."
And these changes will raise money, the city estimates about $1 million. But there are critics. Heil said the city is still working with students at ASU’s downtown campus who are concerned how the new rates and hours will affect them.
