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The city of Lansing plans to run a test of free 15-minute street parking later this year.
The test could begin by the time the city’s new fiscal year starts in July.
City Council President Peter Spadafore said the city’s contract with its parking meter vendor must be amended before the city can begin offering the free parking.
Mayor Andy Schor said the free 15-minute parking will start as a pilot program so the city can assess the cost of processing fees charged when someone uses the Passport Parking app.
“We have to figure out how to make that happen, and then if there are costs doing it through the app,” Schor said. “But definitely making that happen with kiosks, so that if someone goes to The Peanut Shop, if someone goes wherever, and you’re picking up peanuts, or you’re picking up your to-go order, you can just stop at the kiosk.”
Business owners have encouraged the city to offer free 15-minute parking and set up dedicated loading and unloading zones, saying costly parking fees disincentivizes would-be customers from stopping.
City Council members voted last night to implement a progressive fee structure for street parking.
Under the new system, the hourly cost of street parking increases the longer you’re parked.
Schor said the cost of the first two hours of street parking remains unchanged at a rate of $1.50 per hour, but people parked for longer amounts of time will see the higher fees, starting at $2 per hour for vehicles parked more than two hours and going up to $4 per hour for vehicles parked more than six hours.
“If you’re staying for four or five hours, because you’re meeting with somebody or whatever, then we would certainly encourage using the ramps, because we like the on-street for the businesses,” Schor said.
City Council members also increased the fine for expired parking meters by $10 and extended the amount of time drivers have to pay parking tickets at a discounted rate to midnight on the day the ticket is issued.
The hours of parking enforcement were also narrowed to start later and end earlier, with parking now being enforced 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
“We will call this the Dolly Parton ordinance,” Spadafore said, referencing the song “9 to 5.”
