Saturday rate for Market Square Garage begins under new Downtown Knoxville parking plan
The rate change comes as several events are set for April 5 in downtown from the First Friday Art Walk to the Dogwood Arts Chalk Walk and the Covenant Health Knoxville 5K.
While the flat rate charge for Market Square begins on April 5, downtown garage enhancements, including a switch to the new digital payment system, will take place throughout 2025. Under the new plan, free parking after 6 p.m. on weeknights and all day on weekends will continue in every garage except for Market Square. During the week, the prices will remain $1 per hour with a max of $7 per day at Locust Street, State Street, Market Square, Main Avenue Garages and the Jackson Avenue Lot. In addition, payment will be required regardless of departure time.
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In March, the city replaced parking signs and meters to convert to the digital payment system through ParkMobile. Street parking rates also increased from $1.50 to $2/hour for two-hour max zones, and spots with a 10-hour max were reduced to four hours max with an increase from $.30 to $1/hour. Throughout March and April, surface lot prices will be increased. On-street parking will be free before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and all day on Sunday. However, on Gay Street parking will be free at 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
A Discounted Downtown Worker Parking Program has also been established, allowing workers who meet certain financial guidelines to apply for a reduced parking pass that equates to $1.80 per day. Downtown workers who have an annual income below 80% of the area's median family income established by HUD are eligible for the discounted pass. In addition, all downtown workers are eligible for discounted monthly parking passes at the Civic Coliseum and Auditorium Garage A. Visit www.KnoxParkTN.com for more information and to learn how to apply.
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Parking citations are also increasing under the new plan, and new technology will give City Court automatic support for citation follow up, management and collection. The new rates can be seen below.
Parking Violation
Current Fine
Proposed New Fine
Meter Ordinance
$10
Proposed New Fine
Overtime Parking
$10
$25
No Parking Zone
$15
$25
Restricted Zone
$15
$25
Improper Parking
$15
$25
Fire Lane or Fireplug
$25
$35
The new parking plan comes as Downtown Knoxville has grown significantly, with more businesses opening over the past few years. The city began working on a new plan for downtown parking in 2023 and sought input from the public.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Los Angeles Times
22-07-2025
- Los Angeles Times
Coins? Cards? Apps? The hell that is paying for parking in L.A.
Matt Glaeser had just dropped his kids off at their grandparents' house for the day when he pulled into a parking spot near Sam's Bagels on Larchmont Boulevard on his way to work. He tried to feed the meter from a roll of quarters he keeps in his car, but the coin slot was jammed. He reached for his credit card but then noticed the screen said 'Pay by app' and showed a QR code. He tried to scan the QR code with his phone but the screen was so scratched with graffiti it didn't work. So he sent a text to the number on the 'Pay to Park' sticker below the coin slot. After waiting for a minute and wondering if the text went through, he received a text back with a link to a website. He opened the site on his phone and typed in his credit card number and address. But before he completed the payment, the site alerted him that he would have to pay an additional processing fee just to park for 15 minutes. 'It was only 35 cents, but I was like, 'Forget this, I'll find a stale bagel in the office,' ' Glaeser said. Finding parking in the L.A. area has long been a struggle, but these days, paying for parking can be just as odious. Depending on whether you're parking in L.A., Santa Monica, Beverly Hills or Pasadena, a meter might ask you to pay with quarters, a credit card, an app or some combination of all three. In public lots, you might need to memorize a zone, space number or license plate and often don't know which one until you get to the pay station. It's enough to make a law-abiding citizen give up, cross her fingers and hope a parking enforcement official doesn't pass by. As 25-year-old comedy writer Emma Parsons of Palms put it: 'Parking is already one of the things I hate the most. I don't want to spend more time on it.' People who study parking acknowledge that the proliferation of parking apps and other methods of payments has made the modern experience of paying for parking unusually complicated and frustrating. The two parking apps L.A. city uses — Park Smarter and ParkMobile — do offer useful innovations like alerting drivers when a parking session is about to expire and allowing them to add more time remotely, but when each city in the SoCal area has contracted with a different app that has to be downloaded on the street in order to avoid a ticket, those perks may no longer seem worth it. Parking apps have been around for more than a decade but researchers say Southern California is still in the early stages of their evolution with a host of providers vying to become the default method of payment for the region. Just as the universal adoption of the USB-C cable has streamlined the ability to charge a variety of devices at home, whether they're made by Apple, Samsung or another company, experts say a single parking app that allows drivers to pay for parking at meters and lots across the region would greatly reduce frustration and increase compliance. They're not advocating for one company to have a monopoly on Southern California's parking meters or for a law that restricts competition, but they say a more uniform system is possible. For instance, Europe's EasyPark app operates in 20 countries and more than 3,200 cities. 'We're a bit behind the curve,' said Mike Manville, professor of urban planning at UCLA and author of the recent paper 'The Causes and Consequences of Curb Parking Management.' 'The apps aren't new, but they haven't quite gotten sorted out to a point where we can see if we are going to get some standardization.' Tony Jordan of the Parking Reform Network, a nonprofit organization that educates the public about the impact of parking policy on climate change, equity, housing and traffic, said he's hopeful that a more streamlined system will come soon. 'I think we're getting close,' he said. 'The technology is getting there both on enforcement and payment. If we make it through the next couple of years, this problem might get better.' Los Angeles, home of the nation's first freeway and drive-in church, has long been ambivalent if not downright antagonistic toward paid parking. The city installed its first parking meters in North Hollywood in the summer of 1949 (five cents an hour) but only after the city council rejected three previous attempts to put meters on the streets in 1940, 1942 and 1946. Editorials in this newspaper at the time railed against parking meters, with one declaring it would be 'just as fair to install turnstiles for sidewalk pedestrians.' The city kept meter prices fixed for 17 years from 1992 until 2008, when it raised prices as high as $4 an hour for metered parking in the most congested areas. The first meters that accepted credit cards were installed in 2010, years after most people had stopped carrying loose change. As the late Donald Shoup, a professor at UCLA and beloved guru of parking studies used to say, the parking meter was one of the few inventions that barely changed from its inception in 1928. Today the L.A. Department of Transportation operates 35,261 metered spaces, including 32,944 on-street metered spaces and 2,317 off-street metered spaces, said LADOT spokesperson Colin Sweeney. It also manages 11,347 off-street parking spaces in lots and garages. Collectively, those meters and pay stations collected approximately $40 million in the last fiscal year. Apps to pay for parking were first introduced in L.A. in 2014, and the widespread adoption of contactless options was accelerated due to the pandemic. Despite some drivers' frustrations, the city is now leaning further into mobile payments for parking. Text-to-pay options will be available on all L.A. meters by the end of 2025 and app payment and tap-to-pay will be installed on all L.A.'s parking meters by the end of 2026. At the same time, meters in the L.A. area will continue to accept both coins and cards as well, Sweeney said — as long as the coin slots aren't jammed and the card reader works. (Gleaser should have been able to pay by card at the Larchmont Boulevard meter unless the reader was broken, Sweeney said.) The agency also plans to install new and improved parking equipment at LADOT parking facilities and improve wayfinding signage to those facilities. According to the LADOT website, there are currently no plans to add Apple Pay to meters. 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Miami Herald
25-06-2025
- Miami Herald
How to save on Miami Beach parking fees this summer. See discount details
Miami Beach wants to give you a summer break. The city is offering parking discounts for two months. Here's what to know: How much will driver save on discounted parking? Miami Beach announced a $1-per-hour parking rate for public parking lots, garages and street spaces. The price discounts are 50% off current $2-an-hour parking areas and 75% off for $4 parking areas. When does the Miami Beach parking discount begin and end? The discount starts on July 1 and runs through Aug. 31. How can you get the parking discount? The discount is available exclusively on the ParkMobile app, which allows drivers to digitally pay for parking by using specific zone codes found on signs near the parking spots. How much parking is covered by the discount? The price change is offered through three discounted hours per parking session and has a total of 45 discounted hours through the summer promotion. Why is Miami Beach offering summer parking discounts? Miami Beach wants to drum up summer business. Not so long ago, during spring break, some parking had $100 flat rates, when the city wanted to keep away crowds. 'Reducing parking costs is about boosting our local economy during the slower summer months,' said Miami Beach Mayor Steven Meiner. 'We are encouraging more activity in our commercial districts- helping our small business stay strong and grow. Advice on parking in Miami Beach If you haven't realized yet, parking can be tough in South Beach. That's why you should use Google Maps or another app to see what parking lots and garages are nearest to the beach, restaurant, museum or hotel you're planning on visiting. About a dozen public parking lots are within walking distance of the Lincoln Road Mall, according to Miami Beach's Parking Lot and Garage Locations map, each with 20 to 160 parking spaces available. Three public parking garages are within walking distance of Lincoln Road: ▪ 17th Street Garage, 640 17th St. ▪ Pennsylvania Avenue Garage, 1661 Pennsylvania Ave. ▪ City Hall, 1735 Meridian Ave. Parking is a bit more complicated along Ocean Drive, especially during holidays. It's always crowded and you'll need a mixture of patience and luck to find a parking spot. Ocean Drive has parking lots, garages and meter parking basically everywhere. So do neighboring streets. The challenge here is finding an empty spot that is relatively close to your destination. Once you've picked a place you want to go, use the Miami Beach map below to find the nearest lot or garage and try to find parking there first. Pro Tip: Miami Beach has a digital parking guide to find parking near your destination. The guide shows parking availability in lots and garages, maximum time allowed, whether there's electric car charging, as well as location and rates.
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- CBS News
Miami Beach offers $1 per hour parking rate in July and August to help boost businesses
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