Eureka downtown parking goes app-based, drawing mixed reactions

Drivers parking in select Downtown and Old Town Eureka lots now have to open an app, punch in a zone number and start a paid session, a change that has already drawn mixed reactions from people used to the old meter routine.

The City of Eureka began its Passport Parking program on April 1 in designated city lots in the downtown core. The rate is $1.10 per hour, and enforcement runs Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on federal holidays. Sunday and holiday parking is not metered.

The new system is more than a payment switch. City parking signs in the lots now carry zone numbers that drivers need to enter in the Passport app, which lets users start a session by phone, get reminders before time runs out and extend parking remotely. The city says the same system is already used for Cal Poly Humboldt’s public parking.

Eureka says the rollout implements recommendations from the 2022 Old Town and Downtown Parking Study, which called for modernizing parking management and improving turnover in the city’s highest-demand areas. City planning documents show parking changes had already been proposed in May 2023, underscoring that the app rollout was the latest step in a longer push to reorganize how limited downtown parking is used.

That matters because parking in the core of Eureka has never been one-size-fits-all. A city document says most of Old Town and Downtown has historically been two-hour parking, with nearby public lots offering a mix of all-day, paid and free spaces. The new system keeps that layered approach in place, but shifts part of the experience from a meter to a smartphone, which can be easier for some users and more burdensome for others.

The city has also kept permit options in the system. Employee permits remain valid in city parking lots within the Old Town and Downtown district, cost $70 per employee each year and are available through Passport. Each employee may get one permit, and the city says there is no cap on the number an employer can obtain. Residential permits also remain available; the city says they are meant to let Downtown and Old Town residents park beyond time limits and without paying meter fees.

The city says parking meter revenue is reserved for parking and traffic purposes under city code, including lot maintenance, markings, signals, enforcement and related staffing. For merchants, workers and visitors trying to reach Downtown Eureka or Old Town Eureka, the change turns a familiar errand into a more managed system, one that will now be judged by whether it frees up spaces or simply adds another step before people can park.