Parking Rate Increase

By parking at a nearby parking facility with lower parking demand and lower parking hourly rates

• If you currently park at Garage 40, View map
• If you currently park at Garage 49, View map
• If you currently park at Garage 57, View map

If you currently park at one of the high demand garages where hourly rates will increase to $1.00 per hour, you will save 20% by parking at a nearby $0.80 per hour parking facility. Savings can add up to $453.60 per year (based on 9 hours a day 21 days a month)

The rate increase will not affect PCS permit holders. The PCS parking permit rate will remain the same. View PCS rates

Demand pricing is a policy tool with the objective of ensuring an adequate amount of parking availability. Properly priced parking can relieve overcrowding in certain facilities while spurring activity in underutilized ones. For FY16, the County Council adopted a resolution modifying the Bethesda PLD’s price structure from duration-based to location-based. By pricing on-street spaces more than off-street spaces, the county’s encouraging turnover (i.e. availability) for high demand on-street spaces while inducing long term parkers towards less convenient off-street spaces.

A significant utilization imbalance persists in certain off-street parking facilities in the Bethesda PLD. Some garages regularly function at or near capacity while other nearby garages operate with hundreds of spaces available throughout the day. A Demand pricing approach could correct this disparity by spreading existing demand more evenly throughout the county’s off-street parking resources. Studies have found cost is the leading determinant of behavior for long-term parkers; the cheaper the parking alternative, the more attractive it becomes. However, the leading determinate for short-term parkers is location/convenience. The objective is to move a portion of the long-term parkers from high demand parking facilities to nearby “underutilized” parking facilities. This will increase the parking space availability in higher demand parking facilities. For FY16, the County Council cleared the path for variable pricing by adopting a resolution that established a new rate for Bethesda PLD garages of $1.00 or less/hour.

The Division of Parking Management routinely collects garage utilization data through manual counts and integrated car counting systems. Garage 40, 49 and 57 have been identified as “high demand” garages. Long-term parking spaces at these “high demand” garages average 97% occupied during peak periods. Garages 11, 31, 36, and 42 have been identified as "underutilized garages." Long-term parking spaces at these "underutilized" garages average 54% occupied during peak periods. All "high demand" parking garages are located less than 750 feet of a public parking garage that is classified as "underutilized".