After the two hours of free parking already available downtown, visitors will be able to pay $1.50 per additional hour, by app, to spend more time enjoying downtown Battle Creek.
The city is trying out the program – with the Passport Parking app, to keep parking moving and available and, perhaps, better regulate parking downtown.
The six-month trial run with the app is available in the Jackson Street and State Street parking lots, and the RiverWalk parking ramp. The trial program requires no funding from the city; Passport takes a 35-cent transaction fee from the $1.50 hourly customer payment.
What visitors will do:
- Pull into a parking spot, equipped with a sign giving a zone number. We recommend you snap a photo or write down that number.
- Go about your business downtown for up to two hours, at no cost.
- If you plan to stay downtown more than two hours, visit passportparking.com and follow the instructions to pay for more time. This is when you’ll need the zone number.
- The maximum charge will be $5.
If the trial goes well, the city will consider implementing it permanently, adding kiosks in the parking lots to allow payment without a mobile device. That is not available during the trial program, but visitors also can still purchase an all-day, downtown parking pass for $5 from ABM, 80 W. Michigan Ave. or the Battle Creek Welcome Center at RiverWalk, 34 W. Jackson St.
As ABM now eases back into enforcement of parking downtown generally, those parking in the three lots with the Passport pilot will receive warnings for the next two weeks – only the third violation will result in a $5 fine.
As you visit downtown, watch for a small information sheet on your windshield from ABM, explaining the new program.
General parking information to remember in downtown Battle Creek:
Free parking is available in our lots from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Monday through Friday, and all day Saturday and Sunday.
No parking on the street between 3 and 6 a.m. daily.
Call ABM with downtown parking questions at 269-966-3605.