River Market changes are first step in making parking pricier citywide, officials say
A new parking program in the River Market is one of the first changes in a larger overhaul of policies that will make parking more costly in the future, city officials said.
Weekday parking is currently $1 an hour from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the River Market neighborhood; weekend parking is free. Beginning in early May, those headed to the area on weekends will likely be charged a flat day rate of about $10, said Matthew Muckenthaler, the city’s parking program manager, though that cost has not yet been finalized.
Muckenthaler said the River Market parking is getting more attention because parking there has been “upside down and backwards” for so long, but that the city’s entire parking system is in need of “long-overdue” reform.
Recently, Kansas City has lacked a consistent approach to parking enforcement, especially downtown and in other dense areas like the River Market. City officials said they are launching a parking enforcement campaign as a result.
Right now, Kansas City lags other similar-sized Midwest cities in annual revenue per parking space, said city spokeswoman Maggie Green. While the industry average is about $1,500 per parking spot, Kansas City sits at $488.
Green said the larger strategy is to create a sustainable revenue source for the city, which spends about $16.5 million annually to subsidize free parking. The additional money could be reinvested in Kansas City’s transportation system, which is constantly growing with the streetcar expansion and new bike lanes.
While the next steps have not been announced, Green says officials plan to closely study the roll-out of the River Market changes, which have been in the works for about a year, and adjust as needed.
This move also comes less than two years after Kansas City decriminalized parking, part of a progressive push for local criminal justice reform. That resolution, passed by the City Council in August 2020, means people no longer face jail time for unpaid parking tickets and other non-moving violations.
In Omaha, another Midwestern city with a decriminalized parking system, about 75,000 tickets, including warnings, are written per year. By comparison, in the last 12 months, the Kansas City Police Department wrote 16,000 tickets, Muckenthaler said.
While the city and police department aren’t setting citation quotas or targets, Muckenthaler said, the focus on consistent enforcement will help increase user satisfaction and revenue.
Josh Boehm, board chair for the Downtown Neighborhood Association, said he sees the city’s new plan as a more equitable approach.
“There’s really no such thing as free parking. It’s always subsidized parking, it’s a matter of who’s subsidizing it,” he said. “The more equitable thing to do is to ask for the people who are using that service to pay for it as sort of one of the costs of owning a vehicle.”
Muckenthaler has told City Council members that he anticipates the new parking cost in the River Market alone will generate about $1 million in revenue, which will fully cover expenses while also turning a few hundred thousand dollars in net profit that can go toward infrastructure and transportation improvements.
Parking in the River Market
Studies show that about 30% of traffic in downtown or densely populated areas is the result of people circling to find parking, Muckenthaler said. But a well-managed parking system offers a couple open spaces of on-street parking at all times.
This means fewer greenhouse gasses emitted by idling cars, fewer frustrated drivers struggling to find a spot, more customer access to local businesses and safer conditions for those walking. It’s what Muckenthaler envisions for the River Market as this program rolls out.
Right now, a typical busy Saturday in the River Market is marked by heavy congestion, frustration with parking, and a streetcar that is often gridlocked by vehicles looking for spots.
Muckenthaler hopes the changes will encourage more people to park further outside the River Market, then walk or take the streetcar into the neighborhood.
He acknowledged there’s often a fear that when a city starts charging for parking, it drives business away.
But Muckenthaler said people are more likely not to go because parking is frustrating — not because they don’t want to pay for it.
As for businesses in the City Market, a popular area for tourists and locals looking to eat at restaurants or shop at a the farmers market, Muckenthaler said during a trial run of the flat $10 fee during last year over the holidays some vendors saw an increase in sales.
The Kansas City River Market Association in a statement to The Star said it favors the change, and is hopeful it will lead to less congestion and more parking turnover during busy times.
“The entire downtown, and the River Market area in particular, are maturing with residents, businesses and dining/entertainment options, and it’s time our parking and transportation align with other cities with similar tourist and local business destinations,” the association said.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 2:12 PM.
