Portland Raises Parking Fees to Pay for Street Maintenance

Parking rates in downtown Portland are going up as the city attempts to fill a budget gap and raise revenue for street maintenance and repair. The 20 percent hike in parking rates is expected to bring in roughly $4.1 million per year, reports Asa Gartrell for Willamette Week.

According to an article by Asa Gartrell in Willamette Week, “After the recent failure of a massive transportation funding bill in the Oregon Legislature, the city says parking fees are more important than ever.” The city is also expanding paid parking hours from 7pm to 10pm, a change that will be rolled out district by district. A PBOT spokesperson said “increasing parking fees is also critical after the bureau drained much of its reserve funding during the pandemic, when people weren’t regularly parking in paid spaces.”