Is free street parking available in most German cities?

Why doesn't downtown Palo Alto have a permit parking program for residents?

• The city defines the Downtown Business District parking area as the area bounded by Alma Street, Middlefield Road, Lytton Ave, and Forest Ave. The Downtown Business District parking works as follows: 2 hour (3 in some garages) parking for most of the urban core. There are 4 zones - someone could move their car from zone to zone and stay 8+ hours. Permitted spots run by the city. The permits are sold to businesses. Private parking lots. (No paid garages are available on a per-hour or per-day basis) Neighborhood parking adjacent to the Downtown Business District. Palo Alto's downtown neighborhoods (beyond the 2 hour parking zones) are a mess for parking between 8am and 5pm due to the presence of many commercial employees parking in the neighborhoods. Many cities have a residential permitting system so neighborhood residents can park all day while all-day visitors are discouraged. Why has Palo Alto avoided going this route in the areas adjacent to downtown?

• Answer:

  The City of Palo Alto has one Residential Permit Parking (RPP) district located in College-Terrace adjacent to Stanford.  The program includes a 2-hour on-street parking limit without a residential permit.   The City is currently exploring opportunities to address concerns from adjacent downtown neighborhoods regarding parking.  To date the City has restructured the distribution method for downtown parking permits made available on a priority basis to downtown employees and has seen garage use increase by as much as 50%.  A new permit management system is currently also being implemented that will allow people to register for, obtain, and renew permits online.  The City has also entered into a Study Group with adjacent downtown residents and merchants.  The Study Group is focused in the Professorville neighborhood to help focus the discussions and to develop a framework for proposed policy.  The Study Group has been instrumental in identifying data that the City is collecting in response to help make well informed decisions and to ensure that projects for parking considerations balance the needs of the community.  For example, a windshield survey was developed and distributed targeting the drivers of vehicles that park "on the street".  The survey yielding over 800 responses with most noting concerns regarding the cost of downtown parking permits.  In response, options for lower cost permits are being developed and will be deployed as part of the online parking management system.l   A new RPP district is one solution on the table to address resident concerns and costs associated with a program are currently being explored.  The City is also completing a study to identify locations for future parking structures or management strategies such as valet parking at existing garages to provide additional capacity.  The City will be reporting on the actions of the Study Group this Spring.