About the Overnight Parking Pilot Program

As part of Providence's citywide expansion of its pilot overnight parking program, the Providence Police Department has discontinued its 'do not tag' policy for vehicles parked on the street from 2-5AM. Residents are advised to purchase an overnight parking permit to ensure that visitors parked on the street in front of their homes are not ticketed overnight.

Under the 'Do Not Tag List' policy, residents were allowed to alert the Providence Police Department when visitors would be parked on their street overnight. Police would then provide parking enforcement officers with the street address and the visiting vehicle's make and model and license plate information so that the vehicle would not receive a parking ticket.

With the citywide expansion of overnight parking in Providence, residents are now required to purchase an overnight parking pass to ensure that visitors are not ticketed overnight. Residents with an overnight parking pass can either park on the street and let their guest park in their driveway, or purchase an annual guest pass enabling guests to park on the street. Guest passes cost $25 and enable visitors to park on the street five nights per month.

Exceptions will be made at the discretion of the Parking Administrator and the Police Department for situations where there is a parking hardship - for example, road paving and sidewalk work.

Overnight parking permits are $100 per year, with a limit of two permits per household/unit and there is a 6500 lb weight restriction per vehicle to qualify. Buildings with six units or more are not eligible unless they can demonstrate a significant hardship.

It's easy for eligible residents to apply for an overnight parking permit. Residents should bring a valid, original Rhode Island registration that shows the address of a street in the pilot parking area to Providence City Hall, Traffic Engineering or the Municipal Court.

Permits can be purchased at City Hall Monday through Friday during normal business hours (8:30am to 4:15pm). In addition, City Hall is open until 7:00pm on the first and third Wednesday of every month. Permits can be purchased at Traffic Engineering Monday through Friday from 7:00am to 4:30am. Permits can be purchased Monday through Friday at the Municipal Court from 8:30am to 3:00pm.

Any unpaid tickets issued on the vehicle registration must be paid in order to obtain a parking permit. Residents will be required to provide a valid email and/or cell phone number that the city will use to provide parkers with information about parking bans during snow storm and other weather events.

A window sticker will be provided, and must be applied to the upper left hand corner of the rear window. Once the permit sticker is applied, residents can park overnight in a legal spot on a street designated by street signs as an 'overnight parking' street. Street signs will read, "NO PARKING 2:00 AM TO 5:00 AM EXCEPT BY RESIDENT PERMIT."

Residents with overnight parking permits will be advised whenever a snow emergency or other parking ban is declared, and will be responsible or removing their cars from the street for the duration of the ban. Vehicles parked on a designated street from 2-5AM during a parking ban are subject to a $20 citation.