What Austin drivers, cyclists need to know about city's newest parking code changes
AUSTIN (KXAN) — For the first time in roughly 15 years, new parking ordinance changes will take effect Saturday — including changes in fines and additional parking violations baked into city code.
Austin City Council approved Feb. 13 a handful of new parking code amendments alongside three newly defined violations. Those violations added to city code include not parking in bike lanes; not parking in an electric vehicle space if it isn’t an electric vehicle and you aren’t charging one; and violations for blocking a right-of-way closure area in special event zones.
Why Austin chose to update its parking code now
Lewis Leff, assistant director of the Austin Transportation and Public Works Department, told KXAN it was a critical time for the city to take a “comprehensive look” at its parking code in light of the rapid growth and evolutions that have happened within the past 15 years.
“Our thinking around parking has changed quite a bit, and we’ve got a lot of new tools and technology that’s really helping us manage parking throughout our community,” he said.
It also comes as the city is bolstering its multimodal transit efforts, including the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan’s targeted 50-50 mode split for people commuting to work. Under that goal, 50% of people will continue to drive while 50% will utilize mass transit, bikes or carpooling as part of their commutes.
With those goals established, Leff said it’s vital the city’s policies and code enforcements are aligned and enforced to meet those desired outcomes.
When it comes to making parking in bike lanes illegal, it’s an issue city officials have been evaluating for at least a year. In April 2024, Austin City Council approved beginning the code amendment process to prohibit the act, spurred in large part by Council Member Paige Ellis.
“Council Member Ellis and her team really led in passing resolution around no parking in bike lanes,” Leff said. “This is something that we’ve heard from the community for a while, and want to make sure that we have the ability to keep everyone safe on the roadways — including drivers and people outside of vehicles.”
He noted that many times, those instances are delivery vehicles or transportation network companies stopping in the bike lane briefly to complete a delivery run or a quick task. However, he said that can possibly jeopardize cyclists, who would need to swerve back into an active traffic lane to avoid the stopped vehicles.
Under the new code changes, Leff said the policy goal is to help keep those spaces delineated from active transit lanes and parking zones, while also keeping all transit users safe.
Beyond new violations, what else do the parking code changes cover?
While some fine fee changes will take effect come Saturday, the city is taking an initial educational approach on the new violations to make sure community members are aware of them and new rules are on the books.
“We will be doing some education and outreach around these new codes for the next three months, and we’ll start to have enforcement of those with citations after that period is done,” he said. “I think that what we’ll see from drivers, hopefully, is an understanding what you get a warning and you get a flyer that says, ‘thanks for being part of the solution of keeping our streets safe’ and making sure that they understand when you block a bike lane, it’s putting others in harm’s way.”
Once implemented, violators could receive an early payment fine of $50 or a $75 standard fine. Commercial vehicle loading or unloading in a bike lane would result in a $150 early payment fine and a $300 standard fine, per council documents.
A complete breakdown of all the parking violation fines and fees, as well as a full look at council changes, are outlined in city documents.
That isn’t to say violations are the only things outlined in the new changes. Other now-approved aspects include reducing administrative processes to make it easier for musicians to load and unload equipment at venues, as well as expanded metered parking hours at certain points to help manage demand in parts of Austin.
“If we have people parked all day long and not paying their meters because it’s cheaper to do so than actually paying the fine, then we won’t have our incentives aligned with the outcomes that we’re trying to achieve,” Leff said.
By adjusting to demand and improving access to public spaces, he added that will help minimize congestion of people searching for parking while also allowing more people to shop, dine, work and recreate downtown.
“A lot of this is about aligning our policy goals and our community goals with our parking management strategies, and that’s what this code change really enables us to do,” Leff said.
