Cedar Rapids parking permits to see rate hike

CEDAR RAPIDS - Monthly permit rates at several Cedar Rapids public parking facilities are set to increase beginning Jan. 1.

The increases, which range from $5 to $10 extra per month, will affect about three-quarters, or about 3,000, of the nearly 4,000 monthly permit parking spaces in public ramps and surface lots, said Jon Rouse, general manager of Park Cedar Rapids.

'It is not a huge increase, and it also fits with our demand-based management,” Rouse said. 'We are hoping to shift some parking from high demand ramps to less utilized ramps.”

On street rates of 60 cents to $1 per hour will not change, nor will monthly rates in the most costly ramps, the South Side Ramp and the Convention Center Ramp, which each charge $85 per month. The rate also won't change at lot 3, at Third Street SW and Second Avenue SW.

The goal is to spread out usage from a high-demand ramp, such as the Ground Transportation Center at Second Street SE and Fourth Avenue SE, which has more than 90 percent occupancy, to a parking facility further away from the core business district with limited use, such as lot 44, at Second Street SE and Eighth Avenue SE, Rouse said.

The Ground Transportation Center lot and surface lot 40/extension, at First Street SE and Fourth Avenue SE, will see the largest increases, jumping from $60 to $70 per month, a nearly 17 percent increase.

Clark Schulte of Cedar Rapids parks at the Ground Transportation Center, which is about a block from his workplace at The Financial Specialists. Schulte will pay the extra $120 in 2015 out of pocket.

'Just like anything else in the world, prices go up,” Schulte said. 'I suppose it's all part of inflation.”

Schulte said the monthly rate still is much lower than if he were to try to use street parking, and with the skywalk, he never has to encounter the elements during his commute.

Others are more critical of the increase.

'I think it is ridiculous because I can't park where I want,” said Mary Dobrochowski of Cedar Rapids, who has a permit for one of the 908 spots in the Fourth Avenue SE ramp, which will see rates increase from $45 to $52.

She said she is among ramp users frustrated that on many days, she must drive up nine levels to find a parking spot. She said given less than ideal accommodations, the rate shouldn't be increasing.

Rouse said the rate increase is part of a tiered approach to increases that began in 2012.

The increase will generate about an extra 5 percent in revenue, roughly an extra $7,300 a month, Rouse said. The money covers routine and non-routine maintenance and services such as the complementary seasonal shuttle, which transports commuters using remote parking lots to several of the larger employers.

Parking ramp and surface lot monthly rates as of Jan. 1, 2015.

South Side Ramp $85

Convention Center Ramp $85

Third Avenue $60

Fourth Avenue $52

Five Seasons $50

GTC $70

Lot 3 $25

Lot 9 $40

Lot 10 $40

Lot 12 $40

Lot 40 & Ext $70

Lot 44 $30