Prices for parking in Madison are expected to increase in June

Monday, March 16, 2009

From an article by Kristin Czubkowski in The Capital Times:

The price of parking in Madison may go up between 35 and 100 percent for some city drivers after the Transit and Parking Commission voted Tuesday night on new prices for city parking.

The commission approved a modified rate structure that covers city-run meters, parking lots, ramps and the residential parking program. While some elements, such as the residential street-parking program at $21 annually, remained the same, rates for parking meters and in some of the more popular parking ramps will see significant increases. Parking revenues are expected to increase by about $1.3 million, or between 12 and 13 percent, under the new rate structure.

Parkers in the Monroe Street and Schenk's Corners neighborhoods will see meter prices double from 50 cents to $1 hourly, but downtown will still have the highest overall rates for parking. Street meters in Madison's downtown will increase from $1.25 to $1.50 hourly, and parking in the city's most popular parking ramps will jump from $1.10 to $1.25 or $1.50 hourly.

Bill Knobeloch, parking operations manager for Madison's Parking Utility, said changes to the rate structure take place every three years. These changes, he said, ensure that the agency continues to pay for its daily operations as well as the cost of big-ticket items like new ramps or multi-space meters that take credit cards, which the utility will likely phase in to some streets this year.

"All of this material is predicated on a single business model, and that is the Parking Utility pays all the cost of our agency," he said.