Princeton Parking Rates To Rise Sept. 14 Under New Ordinance

PRINCETON, NJ — Princeton's Mayor and Council have adopted Ordinance 2026-29, updating municipal parking fees and regulations, with the new rates set to take effect Sept. 14, according to a public notice from the township.

On-street metered parking rates will increase across several zones. Thirty-minute metered spaces will rise to $1.25 from $1, and 90-minute parking zones will increase to $3.50 from $3. The three-hour Parking Zone 6091 rate will rise to $2 per hour from $1.75, while a new three-hour Parking Zone 6090 will be set at $2.50 per hour. All-day parking zones will increase to $1.25 per hour from $1, and the Omnibus parking zone will rise to $30 per hour from $20, according to the notice.

The Princeton Rail Station "Dinky" parking lot, Zone 6094, will remain at $5 per day. The rate had been proposed for an increase, but the change faced opposition from Save the Dinky Inc., which cited potential ridership decline, according to the notice. A motion was made to keep the Dinky lot rate at $5 pending further data collection, and the motion passed with one abstention.

Kip Cherry, a board member of Save the Dinky Inc., spoke against raising the Dinky lot's parking fee during public comment.

"The Dinky is an important asset for our community. It provides sustainable transportation to the junction, and it also has a long and storied history," Cherry said. "For that reason, we oppose any plan to raise parking fees at the station."

Cherry said higher fees could push commuters toward driving or ride-hailing services instead. "The added revenues to the town from higher fees cannot justify a predictable negative impact on ridership," she said.

Cherry noted that Dinky ridership dropped significantly after the University Place station was decommissioned in 2013 and the terminus was moved farther from town. Ridership began to recover by 2019 before falling again during the pandemic, she said, and has grown since 2022, surpassing 2019 levels by 2023 and remaining above them since.

At the Spring Street Garage, the first 30 minutes will remain free. The rate will be $2 per hour from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and a flat $5 overnight fee from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monthly parking permits will increase to $225.

According to a memo from Deputy Administrator Deanna Stockton to Mayor and Council, the rate changes come as parking expenditures rose 16 percent between 2021 and 2025, while parking demand has also increased based on revenue reporting, public comments about limited parking in the central business district, and tourism data.

The township said it has followed parking principles that call for charging fair market prices for metered parking and reinvesting the revenue into services in the metered area, including the Princeton Loop buses, trash collection, street sweeping, stormwater management and landscaping in the district.

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