Miami Beach Raises Metered Parking Up to $4 an Hour

Working a minimum-wage job in Florida no longer even earns you two hours' worth of curbside parking in South Beach. Starting on Monday, Miami Beach hiked parking prices for surface lots and curbside parking spaces across the city, but not all hikes were equal. The biggest hike? Parking at curbside meter spaces on South Beach just went from $1.75 an hour to a whopping $4 an hour. 

The $1-per-hour parking in public garages in South Beach is also now a thing of the past. With the exception of the Fifth and Alton garage, which still allows free parking for up to two hours, all public garages in South Beach now charge a base rate of $2 an hour.

(Update: A city spokesperson has clarified that parking garage rates haven't actually increased just yet. The city is still working to update its electronic parking app to work with garages, and until it's up and running, garages are still $1 per hour.)

Know a friend on South Beach who can get you a daily visitor parking pass? Yeah, well that just got more expensive too. Those were raised from $1 to $3. 

Public surface parking spaces on South Beach also went from $1.75 to an even $2 an hour. 

Mid-Beach, from 23rd to 44th streets in the Collins Avenue and Indian Creek areas, also saw price increases. Curbside meters there went from $1 to $3. Surface lots doubled from $1 to $2. The metered hours there were also massively increased from 8 a.m. through 6 p.m. to 9 a.m. through 3 a.m. 

Here's a breakdown of all the parking increases across the city.  So why is the city raising rates? It says the funds will go to "fund transportation initiatives such as our free trolley system," while they also hope to "modify parking behavior to encourage the use of city garages and surface lots." 

"Our hashtag for this change is #dontcircletheblock," says Amanda Carballo, a spokesperson for the city. "We see people circling the block constantly looking for street parking when we have more than 12,000 spaces available in city lots."

Those garages, however, will eventually become more expensive too. Below are the new rates the city has planned for the garages. Carballo says there's no timeframe for when those rates will increase — the city needs to update its app first. In the meantime, garages are still $1 per hour.
  
Of course, residents won't be the ones having to pay these outrageous rates. Residents can get a discounted rate of $1 an hour at all public meters through out the city if they register with the city and use the ParkMobile app. 

Miamians, however, aren't quite as thrilled with the hikes. 

When did parking in Miami Beach go up to $4/hr???!!! Who approved this nonsense?? Took myself home and called Uber.

— Liana Lozada (@lianalozada) October 12, 2015

Dear city of Miami beach /@MayorLevine doubling parking rates at city garages only discourages workday commuters/white collar jobs. :-/

— Brian Breslin (@brianbreslin) October 14, 2015

IN THE "THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD" DAILY NEWS: City of Miami Beach Government has just increased the hourly... http://t.co/WTi3Fp8glh

— Edison Farrow (@EdisonFarrow) October 15, 2015

Miami beach tryna pay developers to build more shit locals can't afford. $4/hr parking meters. W SHIT bus service, expensive taxis & traffic

— Rad Pitt (@radseed) October 13, 2015

It's pretty easy to see who gets screwed here. Tourists are tourists and will pay whatever it is they have to pay (assuming they even travel here by car). Residents have parking passes and get discounts. It's the South Floridians who travel to the beach regularly for work or social reasons who are going to get hit hardest in the wallet. 

Public transit between Miami Beach and the mainland is one of the more notable failures of the country's public transit strategy. To make matters worse, this rate hike comes as the Venetian Causeway is closed for construction. The Venetian is the safest link for pedestrians and bikers between South Beach and the mainland, so people who travel frequently between the Beach and mainland don't even have the option of taking a leisurely bike ride unless they want to brave crossing the Tuttle or MacArthur causeways.