Downtown Silver Spring Parking Rates Increased

A relatively small bump in county parking rates for downtown Silver Spring is expected to generate $350,000 in the next six months, the Washington Examiner reports. 

Parking on the street and in county-owned lots and garages will now cost $1 an hour for short-term parking—that's four hours or less—and 65 cents an hour for parking more than four hours, according to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation website. That's an increase from the previous prices of 75 cents an hour for short-term and 60 cents an hour for long-term.

Parking permits in Silver Spring will now cost $123 for monthly convenience stickers, up from $113. (See all parking rates here.) 

The rates went into effect Jan. 1, although it may be the end of January before all meters and pay stations are switched over, a county official told the newspaper. 

The county projects that the increases will bring in approximately $350,000 for the rest of fiscal year 2013, ending on June 30, and another $700,000 in fiscal year 2014, according to Rick Siebert, head of the division of parking management.