Tacoma to Offer Free Holiday Parking Downtown

The City of Tacoma is offering free holiday parking downtown through January 1, 2013 in the Park Plaza North Garage, located behind Pantages Theatre.

The City is giving away 25 parking vouchers good for up to two hours to any interested merchant. An additional 25 vouchers may be purchased for $6.25 (or approximately $0.13 per hour). When a customer uses the voucher, the first two hours are free with every additional hour sold at half price, or $1.25 per hour.

If this promotion is successful, the City may seek to expand it into next year while Pacific Avenue is revitalized.

Downtown businesses interested in the promotion should contact Jennifer Smith of Republic Parking at (253) 627-4401.

City seeks Parking Ambassadors

For many customers, clients and visitors parking is their first and last experience of downtown. The City and downtown businesses want this experience to be a positive one. One of the main purposes of the new parking program is to insure that those who need short-term parking in downtown can always find a space on-street in the vicinity of their destination.

In pursuit of this goal, the City of Tacoma is looking for volunteer ambassadors to assist parkers with the new parking pay stations starting September 20th. The volunteers will provide assistance to parkers with using the machine, information on off-street parking options and general customer service for the initial days of the program.

Volunteers are needed for the weeks of September 20th and 27th (including Saturdays but not Sundays) from 7:30am to 4:00pm. Volunteers will work either a 4 hour shift or an 8 hour day. Several one hour training sessions will be held on Wednesday, September 15th and Friday, September 17th between 4pm and 9pm (to be firmed up next week) at the Wells Fargo Building. Identifying vests will be provided for the volunteers to use while on duty.

If you’re interested in being an ambassador and helping parkers learn how to use the new parking pay stations please contact Kathy Kuzemka, 202-756-5744, Kathy.kuzemka@acs-inc.com
For more information about the parking changes go to http://www.downtowntacomaparking.com/

Off-street parking map now available

Off-street parking map

When paid on-street parking starts in downtown Tacoma on September 20th downtown employees and other drivers looking to park for stays longer than 2 hours should consider parking in an off-street garage or lot.

Employees and residents who park on the street in the core business area of downtown take up parking stalls that would otherwise be used for short-term parkers, namely customers, clients and visitors to downtown. To create a vibrant, active and prosperous downtown that everyone will benefit from we must make downtown more accessible to those who shop and do business here.

The City of Tacoma has developed a useful map to help long-term parkers find off-street parking. There are 63 off-street parking facilities with over 7000 parking stalls in the core business area of downtown. Rates range from $1-$10 per hour, $3-$20 per day or $38-$164 per month. There is a parking spot for everyone who wants one in downtown Tacoma.

Paid on-street parking public meeting this Thursday

Only two more months until the on-street pay stations "go live" throughout downtown in mid-September. Now is the time to comment on how the public will experience the system.

The next public meeting on draft recommendations for downtown paid-on street parking system is this Thursday, July 1st, 2010, 5:00-6:00PM at the University of Washington Tacoma in the Tacoma Room (above the bookstore @ S. 19th & Pacific).

Meeting Topics:
5PM - The Return of Paid Parking in Downtown Tacoma
5:05 - Issues under review
- Paystation On-street Locations (See this previous post for more information)
- Paystation Signage
- Paystation Instructions
- Paystation Receipts
- Permits (Day Use, Barricade, Delivery, etc)
-Regulatory Changes
5:15 - Public Feedback
6PM - Adjourn

For information on Task Force recommendations or schedule please visit us online at www.tacomaparking.com. If you would like to comment, but can't make it to the meeting provide your feedback to tacomaparking@cityoftacoma.org. The Task Force looks forward to input from the community and responds to all comments and questions received.

Potential On-Street Parking Pay Station Locations Indicated throughout Downtown

Noticed those small white triangles on sidewalks throughout the downtown? If you're curious to know what these are and why they are there, read on!

As you are probably well aware by now, on-street paid parking will officially become a reality in downtown Tacoma this September. A voluntary, citizen-led Parking Management Advisory Task Force has been hard at work over the past months offering recommendations to the City of Tacoma on the roll-out of the new on-street system. Details on the on-street system can be found at http://www.tacomaparking.com/.

Over the summer, parking pay station infrastructure will be placed throughout the downtown. In a first cut at placement of these pay stations, the City of Tacoma has sprayed small, white triangles (pictured above) at the tentative location of these stations (example pictured below). The long side of the trangle is the back of the paystation, while the arrow points in the direction of the front side of the pay station where the customer interacts with the machine. The pay stations will be approximately 1 foot square and 5 feet high.

While the tentative locations of these stations is based on the criteria for placement set forth by the Parking Management Advisory Task Force, it is a first-cut at this placement. The City is very interested in property owner, business owner, student, and citizen input before final placement is determined. While this is not a call for debate on whether or not pay stations should be placed downtown at all, it is a call for specific concerns pertaining to placement of specific machines.

Should you have comments on a location of parking pay station, please submit to tacomaparking@cityoftacoma.org by Thursday, June 24th.

Should you want to know more about on-street paid parking in downtown Tacoma in general, including how you can provide more general public comment, visit http://www.tacomaparking.com/.