PUBLIC COMMENT ON PARKING POLICY CHANGES: PBPAC's policy proposal on parking fees.

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Portland Bike Ped

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May 17, 2026, 11:56:13 AM (8 days ago) May 17

to public...@portlandmaine.gov, cou...@portlandmaine.gov, dli...@portlandmaine.gov, Greg Jordan, dw...@portlandmaine.gov, myles...@gmail.com, ceho...@gmail.com, winston....@gmail.com

Dear Honorable Mayor Dion, Members of the City Council,

The Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee encourages the City Council to pass the changes to Portland's parking policy as discussed in the last 2 finance committee meetings.

This year’s resident survey identified parking as a concern of many residents. Free and paid street parking is plentiful almost everywhere off-peninsula, and in relatively short supply on the Peninsula. The reasons for this stem not from a lack of spaces, but from the inefficient use of our overall parking supply. For further detail, we attach our proposal from April 2022, where beginning on page 5 we discuss some proposed changes to Portland's parking policies.

PBPAC-UCP April 2022 Parking Policy Proposal

Our policy proposal suggests a simplified version of adaptive pricing; we ask that at least the council consider seasonal adjustments to these fees, such as not charging for parking on Sundays in the winter. Other recommendations include area levies for parking lots and garages using the business licensing process, which would encourage more garages to operate longer hours. We also endorse a Parking Transit Fund, which would charge a per-space levy for employer-subsidized parking, to incentivize transit, walking, and biking to work.

Thank you for the hard work you’re putting into this year's budget.

Sincerely,

The Portland Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee,
https://www.portlandbikeped.org/

Myles Smith, Chair,

Clayton Hopkins, Secretary

The Portland Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is an ad hoc group of Portland-area residents working to make the city and region a better place to walk, bicycle, and wheelchair. We advocate and educate on bicycle, transit, and pedestrian issues, including handicap accessibility. We work in collaboration with other organizations including the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, Portland Trails, PACTS, the Portland Department of Public Works and the Portland Planning Department.