Recent studies have shown downtown Austin's parking situation is in need of a makeover, and a proposal to help alleviate some of the problems is moving forward. Last week, the Austin Urban Transportation Commission said it would support extending metered parking on Wednesday nights in downtown Austin. Currently, parking is free on the street after 6 p.m. on Wednesdays. The proposal, if it is approved by Austin City Council, would charge drivers $1.20 per hour to park from 8 a.m.-midnight on Wednesdays. The recommendation for approval comes after the Downtown Austin Alliance's parking study revealed the city needs to become better at managing on-and off-street parking. "Parking demand has continued to grow on Wednesday nights to the point where we know people are driving, looking for that elusive empty parking space, as opposed to going ahead and parking in the most efficient way possible," said Robert Spillar, director of the Austin Transportation Department, at the April 11 Urban Transportation Commission meeting. Spillar said the change in parking has been in the works for about two years. Downtown stakeholders are aware of the potential changes, and Jason Redfern, the city's parking enterprise manager, said stakeholders support it. Redfern said any additional revenue gleaned from the extended hours would be reinvested back into downtown for things like additional wayfinding signs and street cleaning.

'A virtual city parking system'

Work is underway to bring digital wayfinding signs to downtown Austin's parking scene. Spillar said the city will soon install digital signs outside of parking garages that indicate how many spaces are available in that garage. Five electronic messaging signs will be installed along Cesar Chavez Street between North Lamar Boulevard and I-35 as part of this project, which is funded by metered parking revenue. Marissa Monroy, the Austin Transportation Department's public information and marketing manager, said the project should be completed by mid-June. Spillar said he hopes the information on the number of parking spaces available will eventually be synced online, so people can determine where they would like to park before heading downtown. This would hopefully alleviate congestion caused by people looking for a place to park, he said. "The goal is really to create a virtual city parking system off street," Spillar said. Monroy said City Council will likely be considering the extended Wednesday night metered parking proposal in mid-to late-May.