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Temporary Parking Changes: Free street parking & lifting time limit restrictions

የሲያትል ፓርኪንግ ማሻሻያዎች
西雅圖市停車規定更新
시애틀 주차 최신 소식
Cubsoonaysiinta Baarkinka Seattle
Thông Tin Cập Nhật về Đậu Xe tại Seattle
Actualizaciones del estacionamiento en Seattle

Today Mayor Durkan announced we will temporarily eliminate paid and time-limited street parking rules to support residents staying healthy at home and essential workers.

“To improve access to parking for the City’s essential workers, residents remaining at home, or residents visiting essential services, we can provide a small relief for paid parking,” said Mayor Durkan.

Following Governor Inslee’s extension of the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order, we will implement these changes to parking so residents don’t have to worry about tickets while they remain at home. Elimination of paid parking will also facilitate easier access to essential businesses for employees and customers.

“The success of our newly created hospital staff permit program indicated the need to explore additional steps to support people doing essential, front-line duties,” said Sam Zimbabwe, Director of Seattle Department of Transportation.  “Paid parking relief and time limit relief will effectively and immediately provide access to parking to support these essential workers.”

Beginning tomorrow, April 4, we will implement the following changes:

  • No payment will be required on streets with paid parking.  
  • Hourly time limits will not be enforced outside of Restricted Parking Zones (RPZ). 
  • Loading zones up to 30-minutes, including new food pick-up zones, will continue to be enforced.  
  • All signs that indicate no parking, including no parking during a specified time, will still be enforced. 
  • Special zones will still be in effect, including new zones for Hospital and Human Services staff as well as existing zones for freight, food trucks, charter buses, etc.  
Restricted Parking Zone Sign

Time limits in RPZs will continue to be enforced so that people who live in these neighborhoods can still find parking in their neighborhoods. So, if you park in an RPZ and do not have a permit, you need to follow the posted time-limits. Additionally, payment suspension doesn’t apply to private, off-street lots and garages.

We encourage people, if they are able, to check their cars from time-to-time, as we continue to adjust on-street parking regulations to respond to the pandemic.

All street parking meters in Seattle will display No Payment Required screen.
All street parking meters in Seattle will display No Payment Required screen. 

Reinstating paid parking will be phased in after the stay home order is lifted.

After the stay home order is lifted, on-street parking activity is anticipated to gradually increase as employees return to work and businesses reopen.  Businesses downtown and in neighborhood business districts will again need parking turnover to provide access for customers and visitors. At that time, we will reinstate parking fees at a reduced rate of $0.50 per hour, the minimum we are able to charge.  

After three weeks at the $0.50/hour rate, we will then begin to adjust rates based on demand as customers return to business districts and need reliable access at the curb.

Over the past few weeks we’ve adjusted various parking regulations.

These changes include suspending enforcement of the 72 hour parking rule, adding food pickup zones, creating a hospital staff-only permit program, improving parking access for human services providers and limiting booting and towing.

Other parking regulations will still be enforced – including no parking zones, restricted parking zones, peak period parking restrictions for transit and travel lanes, disabled permit parking spaces, and commercial and passenger load zones. 

Visit our COVID-19 Parking webpage for the latest information on Seattle’s temporary parking changes.