Drivers Face Higher Prices As Redwood City Moves Toward Data-Driven Downtown Parking

REDWOOD CITY, CA — Redwood City drivers were told to expect higher meter prices and a more data-driven parking system after the city council voted at their mid-September meeting to support a moderate overhaul of its downtown parking program and modest immediate rate hikes.

The council voted 5–0 to endorse the program and staff's recommended on-street rate increases on Sept. 14, with city staff directed to conduct outreach to downtown businesses before proposing additional changes.

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Engineering and transportation director Tanisha Werner and parking and transportation demand manager Christian Hammack said the downtown parking fund had never broken even since it was created in the mid-2000s and was running about a $1.3 to $1.4 million annual deficit.

Hammack said garages remained underused while curb and surface spaces were back to, or above, pre-pandemic demand.

Several councilmembers said the city needed to flip its current pricing logic.

Councilmember Isabella Chu said she believed curb spots should cost more than garages if the city wanted to keep turnover high for businesses.

"One of the first things we should do is make sure that garages are priced more attractively than curb spaces," Chu said. "If the spot in front of the store is half the price as the spot in the garage, then the natural, rational thing for people to do is to pick a nice spot on the curb and park there all day."

Councilmember Diane Howard agreed that rates had to change and that drivers needed better information.

"If we are going to raise off-street parking at some point, I think we need to raise the on-street parking," Howard said. "If you always have that difference, you may be able to change the culture."

Others pushed to protect lower-wage employees downtown.

Councilmember Chris Sturken said he supported raising rates but wanted discounted options.

"Any way that we can incentivize workers in our downtown businesses to use our parking garages and free up surface lot and metered spaces for customers to make those grab-and-go trips would be a great benefit to the city," he said.