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Parking and Mobility office unveils strategic plan, eyes Clever City expansion and Ride WPB relaunch
Summary
The new Parking & Mobility administrator, Jessica Keller, presented a strategic plan aiming for clearer communication, prioritized curb management and technology upgrades, including Clever City camera enforcement expansion, a $3.2 million mobility fund and a planned relaunch of Ride WPB with faster headways; commissioners asked about enforcement staffing, monthly permits and Banyan Garage next steps.
Jessica Keller, the city’s parking and mobility administrator, presented a strategic plan at the April 20 work session that she said aims for “a West Palm Beach where getting around is simple and seamless.” Keller laid out seven guiding goals — clear communication, easier compliance, safety through appearance, curb management, enforcement as service, modern tools and funding priorities — and tied each to near‑term actions and a multi‑year capital program.
Keller said the parking and mobility enterprise manages more than 1,500 on‑street and open‑lot spaces and more than 2,300 garage spaces across five garages. She said enforcement is an operational focus (the department issues roughly 4,200 citations a month on average) and previewed technology investments: expansion of Clever City (a camera‑based parking system) to enable targeted enforcement, expansion of a parking app to reduce meters and move to cashless options, and a planned relaunch of Ride WPB (on‑demand/microtransit).
On funding, staff said the mobility fund holds roughly $3.2 million this fiscal year (mobility contributions and the downtown mobility fee), with FY27 programming of about $2.1 million and additional capital expenditures forecast in later years. Chief Financial Officer Bridget Su confirmed mobility revenues are held in a special revenue fund and are not general fund revenue.
Keller described first‑year priorities: relaunching Ride WPB (staff expect a north–south route with an average eight‑minute headway and on‑demand maximum waits of 10–15 minutes), updating parking and mobility codes, conducting parking studies (Northwood, Kuga Road), updating the residential permit program, expanding cashless systems, establishing private parking partnerships and issuing a Banyan Garage redevelopment solicitation.
Parking operations superintendent Daniel Jos explained Clever City as a camera‑based system that scales by area and requires recurring expansion funding; Commissioners asked for line‑item clarity on the multi‑year budget for the camera rollout.
During Q&A, commissioners raised issues including: how monthly parking permits and wait lists will be managed (staff said a decision matrix and best‑practice policy are under development); the effect of federal grants on low‑bid procurement rules (staff described qualified low‑bid requirements for federal projects); and enforcement staffing constraints and contracting challenges for parking officers. Staff also said they are considering revenue ideas — including advertising opportunities tied to mobility services — but clarified that mobility fee revenue is restricted to the mobility fund.
What’s next: staff will proceed with procurement and scoping for Ride WPB relaunch and Clever City expansion, develop a monthly‑permit policy modeled on other cities, update Banyan Garage analysis prior to solicitation and begin parking studies in targeted neighborhoods.
Representative quotes used in this article are drawn directly from the work session presentation and Q&A.
