Parking in the Borough
The Borough of Media has changed and evolved over the years and currently is known as a destination to visit in Delaware County. It is also home to over 2,800 households who either rent or own homes in the borough. Residents of Media love living in the borough and enjoy the walkability of the town. Often, however, they live in homes without garages or off-street parking. Residential street parking coupled with visitor and employee parking in Media Borough leads to a high demand for parking spots in the borough.
A few years ago, Media Borough took a good look at parking in the borough in an effort to make parking easier for residents and visitors and to bring our parking systems more in line with surrounding communities, with new parking systems and comparable costs for parking.
Some of the changes included:
- New kiosks to replace the older and often malfunctioning parking meters
- Implementing online payments for residential parking permits and parking tickets
- Implementing a new parking phone app - Passport Parking - which can be used in place of the kiosks
- New mobile equipment for the parking enforcement to make parking enforcement as seamless as possible
With so many visitors, residents and county employees utilizing the parking in Media, the borough took a good look at parking revenue, expenses and enforcement last year. In planning for the 2023 budget, Media Borough Council approved a rate increase to $1.50 per hour for parking. This is comparable to towns of our caliber with attractive downtowns such as West Chester and Doylestown. In addition, the Borough has made adjustments to our parking enforcement program, which includes hiring additional parking enforcement officers and expanding paid parking hours till 8PM.
These changes will increase our parking revenue and reduce the strain on our budget. Specifically, the additional revenue will be used to create a sustainable source of funding for capital projects within the borough. It will help maintain and enhance our infrastructure such as roads, sidewalks, stormwater facilities, and parks for our residents.
It’s important to note that budget revenue comes from several sources, but two of the largest revenue sources are taxes and parking fees. By utilizing parking rates as a lever to support government services, we are able to keep property taxes low in Media, while maintaining the level of services and support that residents expect and enjoy.
