Monday, January 02, 2017

Parking Meter Rate Increases In New Pilot Program

The City of Boston is scheduled to launch a one year parking pilot study on Tuesday, January 3, 2017 to evaluate parking demand and metered parking pricing in the Back Bay and the Seaport.

The Performance Parking Pilot will test two different models to adjust parking demand. In parking spots in the Back Bay, meter prices will be raised to $3.75 per hour for the approximately 1,650 spaces in the program. The Back Bay pilot area is bounded by Beacon St., Arlington St., Stuart St., Mass Ave and Charlesgate.

The Seaport pilot area runs from the Channel to Seaport Boulevard to D Street to Cypher Street to W. 2nd Street to Dorchester Avenue (see map below). All meters in the Seaport pilot area will be priced at $1.50 an hour and adjust by 50 cents every two months. Approximately 591 metered spots will be adjusted over 40 blocks. High demand blocks will increase by 50 cents, while lower occupied blocks decrease by 50 cents. The minimum price will be $1 per hour, and the maximum price will be $4 per hour. Price will vary by four time bands (weekdays 8 a.m. - 12 p.m.; 12 p.m. - 5 p.m.; 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. and all day Saturday).the parking pilot in the Seaport will employ parking meter sensors to adjust parking prices based on parking occupancy, and parking spot location. Prices will be re-set every two months, and will remain consistent in two-month increments. Prices will stabilize when occupancy reaches the target of 85 percent, about one space open per block. 

Parking rates will be posted on meters and available online. In addition, parking prices will be available on the City's Park Boston app. Residents are encouraged to share feedback on the pilot through performanceparking@boston.gov.

Parking meter prices have not been adjusted in Boston since 2011, when they were raised to $1.25 per hour. The goal of the parking pilot is to better allocate parking spaces. At the end of the pilot experiment, a portion of any increase in revenue will be reinvested locally. All parking meter revenue is deposited into the City's Parking Meter Fund, for transportation-related uses.

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