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March 31, 2008

R.I. Convention Center raises some parking rates

For the third straight year, the Rhode Island Convention Center is changing the price it charges for parking, but this year, while the price will go up for some parkers, it may go down for others.

Beginning June 1, the event parking rate will rise to $10 from its current $9. Members of the convention center's governing board say the new price is still a bargain, especially when some nearby parking lots charge $20 or $30 when events are booked at the downtown Providence facility.

Also June 1, monthly rates will increase about 5 percent. The center has a three-tiered rate structure for monthly parking, depending on the number of days a week and the hours which are covered. The most expensive plan, currently $195, will rise to $205. The cheapest will go from $145 to $152.

But the board voted to study the rates for "transient" parking, which is the hourly rate in effect when events are not booked. Convention center employees will study whether to raise the rate $1 an hour, keep it the same, or drop it $1 an hour to increase traffic. The center currently charges $6 for the first hour and up to $17 for 24 hours.

The center lost some of its transient business to neighboring Providence Place mall when the shopping center dropped its requirement for parking validation with a purchase in the mall. That opened up its garage, with three-hour parking for $1, to people not planning to shop, including those visiting the convention center.

That prompted one board member to joke that the convention center should collect a toll from people crossing the pedestrian bridge that links the mall to the convention center by way of the Westin Hotel.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 2:27 PM | Permalink

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