Phoenix presents 10-year Downtown parking master plan and ParkPHX web platform

Phoenix — City staff on Wednesday briefed the Economic Development and Housing Subcommittee on a long-awaited Downtown Phoenix parking master plan and a new web-based parking platform called ParkPHX.

Chris Mackie of Community and Economic Development introduced the plan and said the council asked staff for a 10-year roadmap to modernize parking policies and better use existing resources. "How do we make the most of the existing parking resources that we have? How do we modernize our parking policies and management practices to pure parking systems?" program manager Jeff Stapleton said.

The plan folds seven recommendation areas into a 10-year strategy: revise on-street parking zones and payment options; update the out-of-service (meter-hooding) fee calculation; invest in downtown wayfinding signage; build a ParkPHX digital platform that aggregates off-street garage information and (optionally) allows reservations; pilot dynamic curb-management (time- and use-sensitive curb zones); adopt improved performance metrics and data collection; and create a parking facility investment scorecard to evaluate public/private partnerships.

April Trenciletto, deputy director of the Phoenix Convention Center, described ParkPHX as a three-tier web platform that will launch in the first quarter imminently, offering basic garage information (tier 1), links to operator websites (tier 2) and full integration with reservation and payment when private operators opt in (tier 3). "This platform is designed really to help the residents and visitors find parking based on what matters to them," Trenciletto said.

Street Transportation Deputy Brianna Velez said the plan recommends piloting dynamic curb spaces and sensor technology and suggested investing 15% of annual meter revenue to support curb-management staffing, enforcement and technology pilots. "Reinvestment of a portion of the revenue is critical to better manage and improve the on street parking system," Velez said.

Staff highlighted findings from a consultant study: the business core south of Fillmore generally has sufficient off-street parking supply, while on-street parking in the business core and on Roosevelt Row often reaches full utilization—particularly on nights and weekends. In adjacent areas, unmanaged or unmetered curb space shows low turnover and blocks multiple users from accessing the same spaces during the day.

Councilman Sal DiCiccio Robinson raised a security concern about QR-code payment scams and urged the project team to work with police. "The minute that is done, obviously, the perpetrator has your information that they need," Robinson said. Staff agreed to coordinate with the Phoenix Police Department on security and fraud mitigation.

Other discussion items included clarifying how meter-hooding is treated for short-term special events (staff said the city currently does not charge for meter hooding tied to special events, but does charge long-term construction users) and options to shift enforcement to non-sworn staff or police aides.

Why it matters: staff argued the master plan will maximize existing parking capacity, make curb space more flexible for different uses and improve the experience for residents and visitors through better signage and a digital portal. ParkPHX aims to lower barriers for occasional visitors by offering a web-based (not app-only) option for finding and reserving parking.

Next steps: staff said they will pursue the plan's component projects individually and return with specific proposals to the council, starting with wayfinding signage, curb-management pilots and ParkPHX integration work. Progress will be reported annually.