Raleigh may end 2-hour, free parking in downtown garages, raise rates at meters
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- City may limit garage free parking to one hour as part of fixes for an $8M gap.
- City proposes doubling street meters to $2.50 and increasing garage fees.
- Small-business employee spots would cost $60/month, affecting restaurant workers.
The city will consider scrapping its two-hour, free parking program in downtown Raleigh garages, scaling it back to a single hour to combat rising costs.
Along with this, Raleigh will look at raising hourly rates on the street to $2.50, charging higher per-hour and monthly fees in all downtown garages and ending the city’s free-parking program for small-business employees.
The possible changes come as Raleigh predicts its entire parking system will cost $24 million next year — $8 million more than it brings in, creating a gap that taxpayers would otherwise need to fill.
Still, some City Council members showed reluctance during a budget work session Monday.
“These all feel like pretty nuclear options to me,” said Councilwoman Megan Patton. “I understand this is a challenging set of dials to turn. Just speaking for the suburban mom demographic that I represent.”
“One hour is not enough”
Raleigh allowed two hours of free parking in five downtown decks as a pilot program in 2024, then recently extended the program until June when downtown businesses praised it for bringing in a new flow of customers.
The Downtown Raleigh Alliance found that 31% of customers cited free parking as a major reason for coming downtown, while 86% of businesses reported higher sales.
Shifting that back to one hour would complicate those goals, said Councilman Mitchell Silver.
“For someone going out to dinner,” he said, “one hour is not enough to eat, to walk, to get there.”
The entire package of changes Raleigh staff proposed would bring in $7.2 million.
Other options the council can consider would keep the two-hour free program while bringing in slightly less.
But they would raise on-street rates from $1.25 in most cases to $2.50 — a rate Raleigh staff said falls in line with cities such as Durham and Wilmington and would encourage more people to park in decks.
“We don’t want our streets to be parking lots,” said Caitlyn Parker, city parking manager.
The fees in decks would increase, however, and they would be charged on a 24/6 basis — meaning all but Sundays.
Parking meter roulette
Meanwhile, the free spots now designated for small-business employees would cost $60 a month under the city’s plan, which Downtown Raleigh Alliance said would largely hit restaurant workers less able to pay.
“What they do is they go five blocks east,” said Bill King, president and CEO of the alliance. “They walk from the neighborhoods. ... Or they play parking meter roulette.”
King said the “hole” in parking revenue stems from downtown workers who never returned after the pandemic, forcing the city to make up what they used to pay in monthly fees.
“I would urge some caution,” King said.
As the session closed Monday, Councilman Corey Branch finished with a joke: “Maybe we can go to RDU rates,” he said, poking at airport prices.
This story was originally published March 10, 2026 at 11:31 AM.