Starting this week, all on-street metered parking in Lansing will be free every Friday throughout the summer.
Civic and business leaders hope “Free Parking Fridays” will be an incentive for people to spend more time patronizing local shops in places like Old Town and Washington Square.
The program is a first in Lansing, and Downtown Lansing, Inc. executive director Cathleen Edgerly will closely watch the results.
“Seeing what the impact is, how it affects our businesses and if this is something that could be looked at on an ongoing basis, seasonally or otherwise,” Edgerly said.
Edgerly says Lansing’s in-person shopping scene is rebounding more than two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we’re seeing more small businesses choose downtown and choose Lansing as a whole, we’re also seeing more offices starting to come back; albeit in a hybrid model but they are coming back,” she said. “And as we chart the course forward, the future is definitely bright.”
The city will continue to enforce maximum time limits and safety violations.
“Free Parking Fridays” begins June 3 and runs through Sept. 2.