<div style="margin-top: 20px;"><img src="https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/citylogo-pw.png" alt="City of Columbia Missouri" width="175" height="101" style="margin-right: 5px;">
<div style="float: right; margin-right: 0px; margin-left:20px; width:106px; height: 116px;"></div>
<div style="padding-top:40px;
text-align:center;">
<p style="font-weight:bold; display: inline; line-height:150%; font-size: 115%;">P.O. BOX 6015 <br />COLUMBIA, MO 65205</p></div>
</div>
<div style="clear:both; text-align:center; padding-top: 20px;">
<p style="font-size: 150%; font-weight: bold;">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</p>
<p style="font-size: 120%; margin-top: -5px; font-weight:bold;">December 5, 2025</p>
<p style="float:right; font-weight:bold; margin-bottom: 25px; font-size: 100%; text-align:right;">CONTACT: John Ogan
<br />Public Information Specialist
<br />Public Works
<br />City of Columbia
<br />John.Ogan@CoMo.gov
<br />573.239.1837</p>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 110%; line-height:150%;"><h1 style="clear:both; margin-top: 75px; margin-bottom: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-size: 130%;">City of Columbia announces downtown on-street parking rate change, effective Jan. 5, 2026</h1>
<div class="content"><span style="padding-left: 50px;">(COLUMBIA, MO)</span> - On Monday, Sept. 15, the City Council approved an adjustment to downtown on-street parking rates as part of the City of Columbia Fiscal Year 2026 budget.<br /><br />Effective Monday, Jan. 5, 2026, Parking Utility staff will begin updating downtown parking meters to the new $1 hourly rate. The timing coincides with the University of Missouri's winter break, when fewer students and visitors are downtown. This schedule helps minimize disruptions and allows Public Works to prepare new decals and signage. Because each meter must be reprogrammed and relabeled individually, the process is expected to take one to two weeks, weather permitting.<br /><br />The campus on-street parking area south of Elm Street already has a $1 hourly rate. With this change, the City will establish a unified rate across both the downtown and campus areas. Having two different rates encouraged some users to seek out cheaper par
king downtown. Creating a single rate simplifies the system and balances demand.<br /><br />Also effective Jan. 5, fees will be adjusted so that users of the ParkMobile app will pay the same rate as coin users, $1 per hour. City parking garage rates will remain unchanged at 50 cents per hour, with the first hour free.<br /><br />This is the first on-street rate adjustment since 2013. Meter revenue has not kept up with rising costs. Materials and contracted services continue to increase each year, which has led to small deficits in fiscal years 2024 and 2025.<br /><br />Evaluations by Walker Consultants and City staff identified between $9 million and $10 million in needed repairs and technology updates over the next two to five years. Upcoming work in the Fifth and Walnut garage and on the Tenth and Cherry garage elevator are among the projects requiring investment. The Parking Utility is funded through user fees rather than the City's general fund, so meter revenue supports
the operation and long-term maintenance of the parking system.<br /><br />A comparative analysis of 17 similarly-sized cities found that Columbia's previous 60-cent rate fell below the middle of the range. Even with the adjustment to $1 per hour, Columbia's rate remains below the average rate identified in the analysis.<br /><br />The updated rate accompanies recent steps to make parking downtown more consistent and straightforward. Since 2024, Public Works has implemented several changes to improve consistency and user experience, including:<br /><br />
<ul>
<li>Introducing 15-minute <a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/view.php?id=8786">curbside pickup meters</a> to support local businesses and quick stops.</li>
<li>Extending all 2-hour meters to <a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/view.php?id=9302">3-hour limits</a>, giving visitors more flexibility.</li>
<li>Simplifying time limits so that most meters are now either 3-hour (grey) or 10-hour (green).</li>
<li>Expanding the number of 10-hour parking meters to encourage greater use of the <a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://www.como.gov/public-works/parking/parkmobile-downtown-permit/">downtown employee parking permit</a>.</li>
<li><a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/view.php?id=8725">Unifying parking enforcement hours</a> to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. across both meters and garages, eliminating previous differences.</li>
<li>Releasing a new online <a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://como.gov/parking-downtown">parking map</a>.</li>
</ul>
The City of Columbia appreciates the community's continued support in keeping downtown parking reliable and accessible. This rate adjustment, along with recent improvements, reflects the City's ongoing work to provide a parking system that serves residents, employees and visitors.<br /><br />For more information on parking downtown, visit <a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://www.CoMo.gov/parking">CoMo.gov/parking</a>.</div>
<br />
<div class="content"></div>
<br />
<div class="attachments"></div>
</div>
<div id="footerline">
<div style="margin-top: 15px; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align:center;"><p>City of Columbia Vision<br>
<em>Columbia is the best place for everyone to live, work, learn and play.</em></p>
<p>City of Columbia Mission<br>
<em>To serve the public equitably through democratic, transparent and efficient government.</em></p>
</div>
<p style="text-align:center;">-30-</p>
</div>
<style>
#pressrelease{ margin:20px; margin-top: 0px;}
.attachments{margin-top: -10px;}
@media print {
body {font-size: 90%; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;}
#pressrelease{ margin: 0px; }
}
</style><p><a style="white-space:nowrap" href="https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/view.php?id=9503">View this release on CoMO.gov or access a sharable link.</a></p><p>______________________________________________________</p>
<p>You have received this message because you subscribe to the City of Columbia's Web Mail service. To view linked material click on provided links or copy and paste them into your browser's address menu.</p>
<p>______________________________________________________</p>
<p>Archived releases can be viewed online at:
https://www.como.gov/CMS/pressreleases/directory.php</p>
<p>______________________________________________________</p>
<p>If you would like to stop receiving messages, modify list options, or subscribe to other lists visit the Web Mail section of our Web site and follow the instructions provided at https://www.como.gov/Web_Mail/ </p><style>div{margin: 10px;}</style>