To improve parking availability and customer access, the City of San Diego is installing 286 metered parking spaces in downtown San Ysidro beginning this week. The meters will help local businesses and visitors by encouraging turnover of on-street parking and addressing the long-standing problem of vehicles left in place for hours or days at a time. 

In developing the parking management plan, City staff worked closely with the San Ysidro business community, and the plan has the support of the San Ysidro Community Economic Development Corporation. Revenue generated by the meters will be reinvested in transportation, parking, and safety improvements in the San Ysidro community. 

“Feeding parking meters feeds neighborhood repairs, and we can’t wait to get to work for the San Ysidro community,” said Naomi Chavez, Interim Director of the City’s Transportation Department. “This new parking zone will bring long overdue change that will help support local business activity and generate revenue that will be reinvested directly into improving neighborhood quality of life in San Ysidro." 

City crews began preparing the bases for the meters last week and are scheduled to begin installing the meters this week. Work is expected to last through June. These will be multi-space meter kiosks; drivers should be aware that they will need to go to the nearest kiosk to pay for parking since there won’t be a meter at each space. 

The meters will go into effect Wednesday, July 1. Enforcement will take place 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, excluding holidays. The parking rate is $2.50 an hour, with a maximum time limit of four hours. 

This is the culmination of several parking studies done over the years, with the most recent in April 2026. The studies concluded that this area requires a managed parking plan, since on-street parking is often scarce, negatively impacting nearby businesses and discouraging would-be customers. Drivers who customarily use free street parking when traveling across the border to Mexico are encouraged to use one of the many paid off-street parking lots in the area. 

The goal of the parking plan is not to discourage visits to San Ysidro, but to ensure that limited parking spaces remain available for customers, residents and businesses throughout the day. 

Revenue generated from parking meters must be spent on projects related to parking, transportation infrastructure and traffic safety, and must be reinvested in the communities where they are generated, ensuring that local neighborhoods directly benefit from their use. Recent examples of projects funded with parking revenue in other areas of the City include repairs of thousands of streetlights, potholes and sidewalks. 

The effort to establish paid parking began with the adoption of the San Ysidro Community Plan Update in 2016. A 2023 parking study led to the establishment of the San Ysidro Parking Meter Zone, and a recent 2026 parking study confirmed that the commercial area would benefit from paid parking. Extensive outreach and coordination was conducted with the local stakeholders, including San Ysidro Community Planning Group, the San Ysidro Improvement Corporation, the San Ysidro Chamber of Commerce, and local nonprofit organizations such as Casa Familiar. 

The San Ysidro Community Economic Development Corporation recently sent a letter to the City’s Transportation Department, strongly supporting the parking meter plan. 

“The findings [of the parking study] clearly demonstrate the need for action. High parking occupancy on unregulated segments, along with data showing that 37% of vehicles exceed the existing two-hour limit and an average parking duration of over five hours, indicate that current conditions reduce turnover and limit access for local businesses and visitors,” wrote Alfredo Ripa, president of the corporation. “The proposed introduction of approximately 286 metered spaces, along with better signage, clearer designations, and continued enforcement, represents a thoughtful and data-driven approach to improving parking availability and supporting economic activity in the community.” 

Areas where the meter kiosks will be installed include:  

• East San Ysidro Boulevard between Border Village Road to Camino De La Plaza (both sides)  
• Border Village Road between East San Ysidro Boulevard (N) to East San Ysidro Boulevard (S) (both sides)  
• Front Street between Border Village Road to end of cul-de-sac (south side)  
• Bolton Hall Road between East San Ysidro Boulevard to Border Village Road (south side)  
• Louisiana Avenue between East San Ysidro Boulevard to end of cul-de-sac (south side)  
• Virginia Avenue between East San Ysidro Boulevard to Border Village Road (both sides)  
• East San Ysidro Boulevard between Willow Road and East Park Avenue (south side)  

If you would like to receive a copy of the 2026 parking study, or have other meter-related questions, please contact  ParkingMeters@sandiego.gov.