Parking in Palo Alto

Free Parking

Parking is provided for visitors and customers in the downtown area on the street, in offstreet parking lots and in parking garages.

• Two-hour parking is provided in onstreet spaces and in surface lots. 
• Three-hour parking is provided in parking garages except in designated permit areas.

Color Zone Parking

The core business district of downtown Palo Alto is divided into four color-coded parking zones:

• Purple, Coral, Lime and Blue.
• Parking enforcement in effect Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Once the time limit expires in a given color zone you must move your vehicle out of that zone.
• Vehicles will be ticketed if they are reparked in the same color zone within the  same enforcement day.  

Short Term Parking

There are several 30-minute parking spaces throughout the downtown area. Parking in these spaces is free and they are exempt from color-zone enforcement.

All Day Visitor Parking

If the two-hour or three-hour time zones aren’t sufficient, visitors may purchase a one-day permit. Permits are valid in all off-street parking lots and garages. All-day permits are not valid for on-street parking spaces. Members of the parking assessment district may purchase daily permits in advance for visitors and guests to the downtown. 

All permits may be purchased at Palo Alto Civic Center, 250 Hamilton Avenue on the first floor at Revenue Collections.

Source:http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/3904