Skip to Main Content

Downtown Parking Updates

Downtown Voices

An Update on Downtown Parking

Parking rates and policies for City-owned decks and on-street parking in Downtown Raleigh changed in August 2026. Keep reading for an overview of the changes and what you need to know before you park in Downtown Raleigh.

Recent updates include positive changes such as the continuation of the Free 2-Hour Parking Program and preservation of the Small Business Downtown Parking Relief Program.

They also include a 25-cent-per-hour increase in on-street parking rates in areas where the rate was $1.25, with expanded enforcement at city-owned event parking decks, which now operate as paid facilities 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The final changes are significantly more modest than the original proposal from the City of Raleigh and reflect significant feedback from community members and advocacy by Downtown Raleigh Alliance. Thank you to City staff and to Raleigh City Council for adopting more moderate changes that benefit the visitors, workers, and others who rely on affordable parking options to visit Downtown.

A summary of the review process and what changed is included below. 

Overview of Updated Parking Rates and Policies for Downtown Raleigh

Downtown Parking at a Glance

Parking Type Rate Free Parking Paid Hours Daily Max
On-Street $1.50/hour Evenings & weekends Mon.– Fri., 8 am – 6 pm —
Non-Event Decks $3/hour after 2 hours First 2 hours free Mon.– Fri., 7 am – 7 pm $21
Event Decks $4/hour None 24 hours/day, 7 days/week $24
Monthly Parking $135/month — — —

Non-event decks: City Center/Red Hat, Municipal Complex/City Hall, Moore Square and Wilmington Street Station, Blount Street (see exceptions below)

Event decks: Cabarrus Street, Convention Center Underground/Charter Square and Performing Arts Center

Updated On-Street Parking Rates and Policies

  • New rate is $1.50 per hour (up from $1.25)
  • Hourly rates are enforced Monday - Friday from 8 am to 6 pm
  • On-street parking is free on weekdays from 6 pm to 8 am and is free on weekends
  • Areas that were already priced at $1.50/hour did not change

Updated Policies and Rates for City-Owned, Non-Event Parking Decks (City-Owned, Non-Event)

The following City-owned decks are considered non-event decks:

At these decks:

  • The new rate is $3 per hour (up from $2)
  • New daily max of $21 (up from $14)
  • Rates are enforced Monday - Friday from 7 am to 7 pm
  • Eligible for the Free 2-Hour Parking Program, allowing up to 2 hours of free parking in one deck, once per day
  • Parking is free in these decks from 7 pm to 7 am on weekdays as well as on weekends

Free 2-Hour Parking Program

The Free 2-Hour Parking Program is now a permanent program at eligible city-owned decks. Visitors can park for up to two hours at no charge in one participating deck once per day.

After the first two hours, the standard $3/hour rate applies.

Updated Policies and Rates for City-Owned Event Parking Decks

The following City-Owned decks are considered event decks:

At these decks:

  • The new rate is $4 per hour (up from $3)
  • New daily max of $24 (up from $15)
  • Rates are enforced 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
  • There is no free parking period

Monthly Parking

  • Permits in all City-owned decks are now $135/month (up from $125)
  • This is the first monthly rate change since 2019

Small Business Downtown Parking Relief (no change)

  • The program has a limited number of spaces available and is offered to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis.
  • Eligible businesses must be located in Downtown Raleigh and have fewer than 49 employees.
  • The following City-owned decks are available for this program:
    • Wilmington Street Station
    • Moore Square
    • Municipal Complex
    • City Center/ Red Hat
    • Convention Center Underground
  • Parking is free with 24/7 access
  • Limit of 10 passes per business
  • To sign up for the program or learn more about the application process, contact The Car Park at NCinfo@thecarpark.com or by phone at 919-833-7522.

Questions about Parking?

For questions about the new parking rates or assistance with parking, contact Raleigh Parking at 919-996-3996 or raleighparking@raleighnc.gov.

Where The Process Started

These adjustments to downtown parking were initiated to generate more revenue for the City’s Parking Enterprise Fund, which pays for maintenance, debt, and security for the decks. That fund lost revenue when office workers left downtown during the 2020 pandemic. As such, the fund now runs at a deficit, which has inhibited maintenance in the City-owned decks.

On March 9th, City Staff presented City Council with a set of proposed changes to parking policies and rates that would have:

  • Increased on-street rates from $1.25/$1.50 to $2.50 per hour.
  • Doubled the hours of enforcement in all decks to 24 hours (currently 12 hours a day during weekdays).
  • Extended enforcement hours to Saturdays in the decks.
  • Increased the hourly rates in decks to $3/hr and $4/hr depending on the deck.
  • Increased the cost of monthly passes in the decks from $125/month to $135/month.
  • Introduced a $60/month fee for the Small Business Parking Program.
  • Reduced the Free 2 Hour Parking program to 1 hr.

Taken together, these changes would have aggressively raised rates across nearly every part of the system at once for visitors, downtown employees, residents, and small businesses.

Why We Got Involved

Many of our small business owners and other downtown stakeholders were concerned about the potential adverse impact of these changes. We do believe in and support a downtown that is transit-rich, walkable, and bikeable. But access to parking is also still necessary for our businesses to thrive and to give time for deeper investments to be made in transit, multi-modal transportation, and denser housing.

That's why we engaged City Council and staff, and used our voice to encourage you to share comments with Raleigh City Council members to provide feedback on the proposal and the potential impact of the changes.

Thanks to your outreach and comments, the final recommendations look meaningfully different.

Where We Are Now

City staff presented the final recommendations at a budget session on April 9th, which included significant changes from the first proposal we saw in March. These changes will be voted on in June as part of the overall FY27 City budget. These are the recommendations that went into effect August 1. 

The updated proposal:

  • Makes the Free 2 hr Parking Program permanent in 5 City-owned decks.
  • Preserves the Small Business Employee Parking Program as a free program for storefront business employees.
  • Keeps the hours of enforcement at their current level for decks and on-street (so no weekend enforcement or nighttime after 6pm on-street, 7pm in decks) with the exception of the Cabarrus St. deck near the Convention Center.
  • Increases the hourly deck rate to $3/hr only after the first two free hours.
  • Increases enforcement hours in the Cabarrus St deck to 24 hours a day to be consistent with the nearby Convention Center and Performing Arts decks known as “event decks” that are already 24 hour enforcement.
  • Increases rate to $4 per hr in those event decks on southern end of downtown.
  • Still includes an increase in monthly rate from $125 to $135 to pay for increased maintenance and safety in decks. The last monthly rate increase was in 2019.
  • Increases the daily max rate in decks to $21 on most decks and $24 in the “event decks” near the Convention Center.
  • Increases on-street rates by 25 cents to $1.50 in parts of downtown where the rate is currently $1.25. Does not increase rate by 25 cents in downtown core where it is already $1.50.
  • Release an RFP for a Parking Study to provide more analysis of the City’s parking system.
  • Release an RFI to potentially sell the Wilmington Station Deck.