Parking meter rates within a half mile of Petco Park will increase next month during baseball games and other major events held at the stadium. The new pricing plan will help ease traffic congestion near the park and generate revenue to be used on improvements within the Special Event Zone. 

Beginning Sept. 1, meter rates within the zone will increase to $10 an hour starting two hours before a baseball game or any major event expected to draw 10,000 people or more. The $10 rate will continue for four hours from the start time of the event, for a total of six hours. For example, if a concert begins at 7 p.m., the Special Event parking rates will be in effect from approximately 5 p.m. through 11 p.m.

Vehicles with a disabled placard or license plate will continue to be able to park at meters throughout the City for free, including in the Special Event Zone during events.

Special event parking pricing is common in other cities. For example, in San Francisco special event rates are $12 an hour for parking near Oracle Park, the city’s waterfront baseball stadium, and Chase Center, home to the Golden State Warriors.

This week, City crews will begin installing approximately 400 Special Event Zone signs to inform drivers about the new rates within the 200-square-block area surrounding Petco Park. Installation is expected to take about two weeks. The Special Event Zone is roughly bordered by Harbor Drive, State Street, Broadway and Interstate 5. For more information and a detailed map, please visit sandiego.gov/parking/specialevents. 

Visitors can avoid paying parking meter fees by taking advantage of public transportation, including MTS buses and the trolley.

There are 17 special events currently scheduled for September, including 14 Padres home games, two sold-out Savannah Bananas baseball games (Sept. 5-6) and a Chris Brown concert (Sept. 17).

In addition to the Special Event Zone, parking meter hours throughout the City will be extended by at least two hours, but no later than 10 p.m., later in August. These changes are all part of the comprehensive package of parking reforms approved by the San Diego City Council in June.

These reforms are intended to improve management of on-street parking and enable greater investment in parking meter zones. This long-overdue update will bring the City’s practices and pricing in line with most other major cities in California.

By state and local law, parking meter revenues must be reinvested to benefit parking and mobility-related needs within the meter zone where they were collected. These revenues will be critical to support improvements and ongoing maintenance of local infrastructure while freeing up less restricted General Fund resources for other uses.