Parking meters in downtown Nashville to be enforced 24/7 beginning in February

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A big change is coming to downtown Nashville’s parking meters next year, starting with them being enforced 24/7 in February, an NDOT plan shows.

That only includes the parking meters in the downtown core (inside the I-40 loop). Outside of that area, meters will be active from 6 a.m. to midnight.

The change was approved at Monday’s Traffic & Parking Commission meeting, NDOT said.

The city’s parking meters, prior to the change, are active from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. NDOT will be making the public aware of the change and putting up appropriate signage this month and in January.

“I always want to be able to park for free, that’s the biggest thing. I mean I understand parking limits, parking lots everything,” Nashville resident Patrick McDermott said. “I want to at least have a place, if I run inside coffee shop, pick up an order, I want to be able to find a place I can stop and not worry about being ticketed.”

The increased meter hours are part of Nashville’s Smart Parking Program, getting rid of the city’s coin-only meters and replacing them with modern pay stations that allow drivers to pay with their phone or a credit card.

“A lot of people don’t ever carry change anymore. Everything is very digital,” Brettne Hunter, who works in Midtown, said. “I don’t have change on me so a lot of times when I go to park, in general, I can’t even pay to park because I don’t have change on me.”

NDOT predicts it will create about $1.2 million in revenue for fiscal year 2023. That’s compared to $962,367 before the change.

NDOT plans on rolling out its new, modern parking station over the next six months.

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