By Anne Levin
Increases to parking fees on streets and the Spring Street Garage were the focus of a presentation at the Monday, June 8 meeting of Princeton Council. Deputy Administrator Deanna Stockton told Council that while most of the town’s parking fees have not changed since 2019, demand — especially on weekends — has significantly increased.
Among the recommendations in the report are expanding daytime hours in the garage to encompass 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. with a rate of $2 an hour, establishing a flat fee of $5 between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. (up from the current $3 for a 12-hour stay between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.), a maximum 24-hour rate of $33 (up from $23), and deleting the 25-cent hourly holiday rate.
The monthly rate for permit parking in the garage would go from $180 to $225. Students living on the campus of Princeton University would not be eligible.
On streets, the proposal includes creating an inner zone of three-hour parking with an increase to $2.50 an hour, and an outer zone, increased to $2 an hour.
“This is about managing the shared parking system in a way that works for visitors, residents, and local businesses,” Stockton said. “These rates are intended to keep Princeton’s parking system practical, fair, and financially sustainable.”
The plan is to introduce a draft ordinance at the June 22 Council meeting, followed by a public hearing on July 13. The rates would not become effective until September 1.
In a memo sent to Council before the meeting, Stockton referred to Donald Shoup, author of the 2005 book The High Cost of Free Parking. Since the last parking overhaul, the town has generally adopted Shoup’s parking principles dictating that cities should charge fair market prices for metered parking, and spend the revenue to improve services in the metered area.
“Parking revenues provide funding for the Princeton Loop buses, municipal public trash collection in the CBD, street sweeping, stormwater management, landscaping, tax relief, and the staff and equipment costs dedicated to the parking utility,” Stockton wrote in the memo. “To remain consistent with these principles, Princeton must periodically review its parking rates and regulations and make adjustments.”
From 2021 to 2025, parking expenditures have increased 16 percent. “Parking demand over this period has also increased significantly based upon revenue reporting, public comments that there is not enough parking available in the heavily visited central business district near Nassau Street and Palmer Square, and tourism data,” reads the memo.
The municipality’s Infrastructure and Operations Committee and Finance Committee have been reviewing the situation over the past year. A full list of their recommendations is in the agenda packet for the meeting (princetonnj.gov).
Councilman Brian McDonald commented that no rates would increase more than 25 percent. “Some would say we’re not going far enough,” he said, noting that the consumer price index has gone up 33 percent. “A key point is to look at the rates more frequently than every five to seven years.”
Council President Michelle Pirone Lambros said the idea is to have higher turnover in the central business district, leading to more open parking spaces. Having the recently introduced Loop express bus gives residents, employees, and visitors an alternative to driving into town and parking.
The next meeting of Council is Monday, June 22, at 7 p.m.