The Portland City Council will vote on Wednesday on a parking ordinance. The ordinance would raise the cost of parking in Portland’s Lloyd district during events. If the ordinance is adopted, parking would cost $3 per hour during these high-volume times.
Presently, parking spaces in the Lloyd district cost $1 per hour. With a public transportation round trip priced at $5, officials believe that the current system incentivizes driving to these events. Therefore, raising parking prices would incentivize more people to take public transportation. This would free up further parking for locals.
The city raised parking meter and permit fees citywide last month. These price increases hope to provide extra revenue for the city.
Ordinance hopes to ease parking shortage in Lloyd District
The Lloyd district sits on the northeast bank of the Willamette River. It is home to three major event venues: the Oregon Memorial Coliseum, the Oregon Convention Center, and the Moda Center. When these spaces have events concurrently, parking dries up quickly.
The Lloyd District has fewer than 2,000 on-street parking spaces. During major events or times when all three venues have events, an estimated 10,000 people come to the Lloyd district. These visitors increase demand for parking by over 100% while also increasing congestion and danger to pedestrians. Officials hope that the ordinance, if passed, will make for safer streets as well as more freedom of parking.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation, which asked for the Council to raise prices, said that the city would see a revenue increase in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The proposed Lloyd district would be Portland’s second event parking district. Providence Park, home to the Thorns and the Timbers, saw its parking prices increase earlier this year, from $1.60 to $4.
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