Raleigh extends 2-hour, free parking downtown. Here’s how long.

The Raleigh City Council is extending a two-hour free parking pilot program by six months, until the end of June.

Several small business owners, as well as the CEO of Marbles Museum, spoke before the Raleigh City Council last week and said the program helps to level the playing field at a time so many people are watching their money.

“I would say honestly, it’s been very instrumental to not only our success but also downtown Raleigh awareness,” said Bricks & Minifigs Owner Pranav Harish.

The shop is one of the largest Lego stores in North Carolina.

Harish says Raleigh’s two-hour free parking pilot program has been especially helpful during the week and it allows downtown Raleigh to stay competitive with shopping centers such as North Hills or The Fenton.

“It’s where we need to be to help us compete and kind of set out some of those strategic differences to allow people to really feel not fearful of coming to downtown and experiencing a lot of these high costs, but instead experiencing downtown for what it is,” said Harish.

The Downtown Raleigh Alliance conducted a survey on the pilot program. It found that 31% of shoppers said free parking was a main or contributing reason for their visit and 86% of businesses said they believe sales are up because of the program.

“We’ve invested a lot in safety downtown. We have a lot more people here, and we’ve seen great results from that,” said DRA President and CEO Bill King. “You got do things that make access easier and making parking cheaper is doing that.”

However, Raleigh transportation officials say the city is losing more than half a million dollars in revenue with this program and that maintenance, such as power washing and painting, is now being deferred.

This story was originally published November 24, 2025 at 11:11 AM.