Parking in Coral Gables is changing. Here’s how you can get a discount
.jpg "People in Coral Gables can now decide whether to pay for parking with PayByPhone or ParkMobile.")
There’s a new way to pay for parking in Coral Gables.
People have long used the mobile app PayByPhone to pay for meter parking in the City Beautiful. Now the Gables has added another option: ParkMobile, the same app that drivers use to pay for parking in Miami Beach, Hollywood and Miami.
Coral Gables is the latest South Florida city to let drivers pay with their app of choice. Miami, which has used PayByPhone for over a decade, earlier this year began letting drivers pay with ParkMobile, too. And Miami Beach, once soley ParkMobile’s turf, also added PayByPhone last year to make parking easier for drivers.
PayByPhone and ParkMobile aren’t the only online parking options used in South Florida. But they are the most popular. For many, the recent changes mean no more toggling between parking apps.
Will you be Team PayByPhone or ParkMobile? At least in the Gables, it doesn’t really matter.
Parking rates will be the same, no matter which app you pay with, according to Monica Beltran, the city’s director for parking, sustainability and mobility services. Keep in mind that how much you pay for parking will depend on where you park, and for how long. Signs in the city are being updated to reflect the new ParkMobile payment option.
One of the best ways for residents and visitors to save money in the Gables is to use the city’s free trolley service to get around. You can also use an app to order a free car ride through Freebee, an electric car service company founded by UM graduates that has partnered with Coral Gables, Doral, Hialeah and other South Florida cities.
But for residents who do need to park in the City Beautiful, there’s a way to get cheaper parking: Sign up for the new resident discount parking program the city is testing.
The pilot program, which began in April and was recently extended through January, gives registered residents a 25% discount citywide at city-managed on-street parking, including municipal lots and at the Minorca Garage, 254 Minorca Ave., adjacent to the police and fire headquarters, when they pay with PayByPhone and ParkMobile. Plans are in the works to eventually offer the discount at other city garages, too.
And unlike Gables visitors, residents who register their car’s tag for the parking discount also won’t be charged a service fee anymore when they use PayByPhone and ParkMobile to pay for parking, according to Beltran. That’s because Gables visitors will foot that part of the bill. Non-residents who pay for parking in the Gables will now pay 35 cents — 8 cents more than before, in service fees per transaction, she said.
The service fee, which goes to the app, is like a convenience fee, similar to what movie theaters charge when you buy tickets online.
The goal is to “give back to our residents” and encourage them to shop and dine more across Miracle Mile, Giralda’s Restaurant Row, and other neighboring blocks that make up the city’s central business district, according to Commissioner Melissa Castro, who sponsored the resolution to launch the pilot program.
The central business district is “bounded by Navarre Street on the north, Douglas Road on the east, Almeria Street on the south and LeJeune Road on the west,” according to the city, and is home to many Gables staples, including Coral Gables Art Cinema, Actor’s Playhouse, Books & Books, Bugatti and Seasons 52.
“We want to support our local businesses,” Castro told the Miami Herald.
Castro said that the better businesses do, “the more of a burden we can take off our residential homes,” noting that 40% of the city’s tax revenue comes from the city’s central business district, which means “nearly half of everything we’re able to invest back into city services come from this area.”
The city is still testing the parking discount program to determine if it can be made permanent.
The parking discount, when paired with the city’s free trolley and Freebee services, “creates a full network of affordable, accessible ways to enjoy Coral Gables,” Castro said, noting that her “ultimate goal” is to make “our community more connected, vibrant and resident-focused.”
And more perks for residents may be on the way, Coral Gables Mayor Vince Lago said.
“I have much larger aspirations. My goal is to one day be able to offer residents free parking, especially during holidays and certain months of the year,” Lago said. “But to do that, we have to increase revenue.”
The city is also looking into whether it can expand Freebee’s service range more, toward the University of Miami area, according to Lago. Currently, Freebee runs all the way to Merrick Park and all the way to Eighth Street, the mayor said.
“The whole point is to incentivize people to visit our downtown, to visit our restaurants, are shops because, again, if those businesses are doing good, they’re doing great, it will raise property values, in turn, increasing the money that goes to the coffers in the city,” Lago said. “Without our downtown, and without a vibrant downtown where people are visiting spending their hard-earned money going to eat at restaurants, going to shop, we would suffer significantly, and the residents would pay significantly higher taxes.”
Do other cities offer residential discount parking?
Other South Florida cities already offer discounted parking to residents, including Doral, South Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Miami Beach. But not everyone takes advantage.
Here’s a sense of how much people can save:
- In popular tourist destination Miami Beach, which has offered discounted residential parking since 2015, more than a quarter of its over 80,000 residents are registered to get up to 75% off on parking. Rates vary on where you park. Residents, for example, can get $1 per hour on on-street and off-street meters in comparison to $4 per hour south of 23rd Street and $2 per hour in garages and lots, according to the city.
- In Miami, which has offered discounted residential parking on public on-street spaces since 2019, about 7,486 of its 440,000 residents are registered to get up to a 50% discount. “The average parking rate in Miami is $3 an hour and Miami residents registered in the program pay $1.40 an hour,” the city said in an email to the Miami Herald.
- In Doral, which has offered discounted parking around Downtown Doral and the city’s parks since 2023, about 1,500 of its over 80,000 residents are registered to get the 40% discount. Residents pay $1.50 an hour instead of the standard $2.50 an hour, with a three-hour maximum.
“Based on the reporting provided by PayByPhone, from January to July 2025, we can see an increase in the residential utilization of the platform of about 33% — meaning more residents are signing up and/or shopping locally,” Doral spokesperson Maggie Forster told the Miami Herald in an email.
For now, Coral Gables plans to offer registered residents cheaper parking through the pilot program at least until the city commission’s first meeting in January, according to Castro. The city will then decide whether it can make the discount permanent. Those registered for a residential zone permit are automatically enrolled in the program.
How Coral Gables residents can get discounted parking
If you’re a Gables resident, and want to sign up for the discounted parking, here’s how:
- Download and fill out the resident parking discount application, which can be found on the city’s website.
- Email the completed application along with a copy of your valid, unexpired driver’s license, a valid and unexpired Florida vehicle registration, and another document that can serve as proof of residency, such as a utility bill, voter registration card, monthly mortgage statement or residential lease agreement to parking@coralgables.com. See the city’s website for a full list of eligible documents.
People who need assistance filling out the application or have questions about the program can call the city’s parking department at 305-460-5540 or visit the office at 254 Minorca Ave., Suite 204, in Coral Gables.
How can people figure out if it worked?
Once you select your car’s tag in the app, you should be able see if the resident discount is applied before paying.
This story was originally published August 26, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
