If you’ve noticed that it’s actually pretty cheap to park on the street in downtown Orlando, that’s because parking rates — just like the federal minimum wage — haven’t increased since 2009.
On-street parking downtown currently costs $1 an hour, while off-street parking — in a city parking garage, for example — currently costs $2 an hour for a maximum daily charge of $15. According to a presentation from the city’s parking division, this is considerably lower than hourly rates in other comparable cities, such as Tampa ($2 an hour), Fort Lauderdale ($3 an hour) and Miami ($3 an hour).
Division leaders, however, are asking city officials to approve a slight increase to Orlando’s downtown parking rates, in order to help fund future parking upgrades and modernization initiatives.
The division, first created in 1982, is a self-funded enterprise that isn’t funded by taxpayer dollars.
“We survive on our user fees, parking fees, and we operate much like a private business,” said parking division manager Scott Zollars, speaking to city commissioners during a city workshop Monday morning.
City officials have been working to reshape downtown to become more family-friendly and less nightclubby, slowly pushing out — or otherwise burdening — the local nightlife scene through more stringent regulation that has sharply increased the operating costs of local bars and clubs.
Parking division leaders have proposed increasing parking rates downtown to a progressive pricing structure, beginning at $2 an hour (for the first two hours) for on-street parking, and $3 an hour for off-street parking. Event parking would rise from $10 max to $20 max. If approved, the rate changes would go into effect this October.
It’s been 17 years of no rate changes — a constancy that has finally become financially unsustainable. The division estimates they’ll need $20 million in revenue over the next five years to “accommodate moderate growth” downtown, including proposed upgrades to decades-old parking garages, a transition to meterless and cashless parking, and digital technologies allowing people to identify available parking spaces (both on-street and in the city’s 10 downtown parking garages) in real time.
“As we look ahead and think about the growth of downtown, we want to be prepared to meet the growth, and so we’re looking at ways to modernize and grow the system and ensure we have the necessary revenues to do so,” Zollars explained.
The division’s proposal seeks to slightly increase parking rates and parking violation fees across the board, while also extending parking enforcement for two additional hours, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Parking violation fees would increase from $27 to $32 for certain standard violations, under the proposal, and from $37 to $57 for “life & safety” violations. Late fees would also change: A late fee for nonpayment would be increased to $20 from $15, but would be applied after 21 days, instead of the current 14 days of nonpayment.
Benefits of these proposed changes, division leaders argued, would include stronger “operational efficiency,” accessibility, and opportunities for “revenue reinvestment.”
“Reinvesting revenue is a key part of the strategy,” said Josh Alves, the city’s assistant parking division manager. “It allows us to maintain and preserve our aging facilities, while also funding important upgrades like new technology, payment systems and overall modernization.”
District 4 city commissioner Patty Sheehan — representing neighborhoods north, south, and east of Lake Eola — was the only member of the seven-member city commission Monday to express concern over raising rates, coupled with changes to how the city’s parking system will work moving forward.
“My concern is, as we go to cashless and meterless, a lot of people don’t understand that technology,” she said. “People already get upset if they don’t understand the system, and now they’re going to get even a larger ticket if they don’t understand the system.”
Roger Chapin, city commissioner for District 3, meanwhile, framed the proposed changes as a “reorganization” rather than a price hike.
“I think for those that might say we’re increasing prices, and people might not come downtown, we’re actually creating more turnover so more people can come downtown,” he argued.
The city also has a limited free parking program, most recently extended in January, that allows visitors to enter a code through the ParkMobile application up to 16 times for free two-hour parking downtown.
To encourage more foot traffic, and reduce actual vehicle traffic, the city has also invested in a “micromobility” venture dubbed Ride DTO (essentially, vehicles that serve as city-subsidized Uber rides) that operate in the downtown entertainment core.
It’s important to note that no changes have been approved to city parking rates just yet.
Monday’s presentation served as just that: a presentation of the parking division’s wishlist. Division leaders expect to bring their proposed changes up to a vote in the form of an ordinance by Orlando City Council on May 11, with a second reading and vote to take place June 8. If approved, the rate changes would take effect Oct. 1, 2026.
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