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Downtown LA ExpressPark Pilot Program Launched

July, 2012


LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has unveiled a pilot program designed to change the way people park Downtown. The city Department of Transportation (LADOT) calls LA ExpressPark, a yearlong demonstration project, a technologically advanced parking system that will notify motorists where parking is available by using in-ground sensors on city streets and city-owned lots.

The program will also introduce “dynamic pricing” to on-street parking. Parking prices will be based on demand. When demand is high, those parking rates will increase; when it’s low, the rates will drop. This is intended to help keep downtown LA traffic moving and take the hassle out of parking in what is Southern California’s largest generator of economic activity, the LADOT says.

The program’s demonstration area involves only city-owned parking spaces and lots in a 4.5-square-mile sector Downtown. It will include 6,000 high-tech parking meters that take debit and credit cards.

“Downtown is the heart and soul of Los Angeles, and has experienced significant growth over the last decade,” Villaraigosa said. “LA ExpressPark will make parking in Downtown easier, faster and smarter.”

“Downtown is one of the largest employers in the region,” said City Councilwoman Jan Perry, who represents the area. “Coupled with its emerging reputation as the [city’s] sports and entertainment hub, it’s the ideal location to launch the program.

“New meters, new technology and flexible payment methods afford greater ease and convenience in parking and visiting our dynamic downtown,” Perry said.

The one-year, $18.5 million LADOT program is being developed in partnership with California and LA County highway and transportation agencies, supported by $15 million in Federal Highway Administration grants and $3.5 million in matching city funds.

(Sources: LA Department of Transportation,LA Downtown News)



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