Parking in Downtown Redwood City

Published in

Redwood City VOICE

4 min readSep 30, 2016

If you frequent the busy downtown Redwood City for business or pleasure, you should know that the City of Redwood City recently expanded and improved parking options. The City now offers nearly 4,000 parking spaces in and outside of the downtown core, including on-street parking. 2,300 of these parking spaces are free to the public on all nights after 6pm and all-day Sunday. 1,000 of these are also free all-day Saturday.

In addition to increasing the number of spaces and offering more free options, the City has also taken big steps to make existing parking spaces easier to use in downtown Redwood City.

Downtown Parking

Before you head downtown, be sure to check out our handy downtown parking map (shown above). This map shows you the best locations to park depending on your needs, gives you information about lots and garages and explains the fees for all available parking areas.

The “Parker” app can help you find available parking spots in Redwood City, see prices and hours for garages and lots, and use the turn-by-turn voice navigation. The app includes live-updated info on available spaces, too! Download it here.

If you’re a frequent downtown parker, a monthly parking permit may be a convenient and cost-effective solution for you! Parking permits are available for the Marshall and Sequoia Station garages and the Main Street lot. Pricing varies depending on location, days and hours. For more information go here.

Where to Park

Downtown Redwood City is full of street parking lots, and garages for you to leave your vehicle and explore downtown.

Crossing 900 (a.k.a. the Box building) offers 900 spaces available to the public on nights and weekends! Your first 1.5 hours are free; after that the cost is $2.50 per hour after 6pm.

Quick tip! If you are attending a movie at the Century Theatre you can get parking validated for up to four hours.

The County garage is another great place to park as there are usually many spaces available. It’s free and available to the public after 5pm on weekdays and all-day on weekends.

You can even enjoy your night out without having to worry about parking! Downtown Redwood City offers valet parking options Friday to Saturday from 5pm to 11pm for only $5. Valet locations include the Downtown Redwood City Library, the corner of 2198 Broadway and Middlefield (next to the square), and Main and Broadway.

Quick tip! At the end of last year a new ordinance went into effect limiting parking on Broadway to two hours. This change better accommodates shoppers and diners as cars can no longer remain in valuable downtown parking stalls for numerous hours.

Improvements

The City of Redwood City hears you! Frequently we get asked, “When will the parking kiosks be fixed?” and “Why can’t I pay by credit card?” City staff has worked to address these issues and enhance your parking experience downtown.

Single-space parking meters have been replaced with new smart meters in the downtown periphery. These meters now give users the ability to easily pay with a debit or credit card. Previously established methods of payment will continue to be accepted as well.

Pay stations, utilized by parkers who use pay-by-space parking, have been replaced with new technology. These new kiosks are equipped with new communications technology which makes credit-card processing much faster — less than 15 seconds! At these kiosks, you can also pay with cash or with the PayByPhone app. To download this handy app go here.

Digital signs have recently been installed on the outsides of the Jefferson and Marshall garages for your parking convenience. One sign can also be found inside of the Jefferson garage. These signs update in real time to let you know how many spaces are left in the garage.