Drivers visiting downtown Galveston and UTMB will soon notice changes to the City’s paid parking program.

The Galveston City Council on Thursday approved a new ordinance affecting paid parking in both the downtown and UTMB areas. The downtown paid parking district includes the area from 20th Street to 25th Street and from Harborside Drive to Church Street. The UTMB parking district includes the area from 14th Street to Holiday Drive and from Harborside Drive to Broadway Boulevard.

Under the approved changes, drivers will be able to pay in 30-minute increments after the first hour, rather than in full-hour increments only. The ordinance adds a transaction fee for payments made using PayByPhone. The downtown pay stations will not include a transaction fee. These changes were requested by City Council.

“These changes put forth by council give people more options,” City Manager Brian Maxwell said. “If someone is out to eat and needs just a few more minutes, they can elect a half-hour increment instead of having to pay more for time they won’t use.”

The hourly parking rate will remain $2.25 and the 30-minute rate is $1.25. Each paid parking purchase is considered a transaction. Under the new ordinance, applicable transaction fees will be added to the parking rate. At this time, transactions made by phone or through the PayByPhone app will include a $0.30 transaction fee, which is subject to change. Drivers who pay at one of the 17 downtown pay stations will not be charged the transaction fee.

The City of Galveston is working with its paid parking vendor to implement the changes and anticipates they will go into effect within the next four weeks. The public will be notified once an official start date is set.