PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Philadelphia Parking Authority is continuing its annual effort to draw holiday shoppers to the city instead of suburban malls: Free limited parking at meters starts on Saturday.
PPA has been offering free parking at meters on Saturdays between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day for more than two decades. Initially, the idea was established as a way to promote shopping in the city during the holidays.
With small businesses closing left and right due to the coronavirus pandemic, PPA Executive Director Scott Petri said this year is crucial.
“Come downtown and help the Philadelphia community recover from this pandemic,” he said. “We know that the business community feels that this is important — that has been communicated to me. Particularly, the hotel-hospitality industry has made it very clear that they think it is vital, and this is not the year to end free metered parking on Saturdays.”
The free parking initiative runs every Saturday after 11 a.m., from this weekend through the end of the year.
“The whole program started with the impetus in trying to restore downtown,” Petri noted, “and here we are, a couple decades later, and we circled back to where we were. You see everyday businesses closing up forever, and it’s quite frankly saddening to me.
“We just don’t want to be part of the problem. We’d rather try to be part of the solution.”
Safety regulations will still be strictly enforced — no parking in front of a fire hydrant or in a crosswalk, for example. Select parking garages will be offering discounts, too.