ORLANDO, Fla. — Parking is among the top three issues residents feel are a problem in downtown Orlando, according to a city survey conducted last year. 

In the near future, there will be digital signs with real time information in downtown Orlando that could help guide drivers to open parking garages and available spots during events. The city recently approved the first phase of a project with an engineering firm working to design a digital wayfinding system to help drivers find a place to park.

City officials say using the new technology in an innovative way to help guide visitors and locals will mitigate traffic congestion, travel delays and facilitate traffic management.

People like Elijah Martinez, who live and work in downtown Orlando, understand the pains of parking there. Martinez works at Osphere on Central Boulevard in Lake Eola. He answers phone calls from people asking about parking availability several times a day. 

In a 2023 city district downtown safety survey, 13% of about 4,700 people said they feel the lack of parking expenses are hindering the economic growth of downtown Orlando.

The city is taking steps by hiring an engineering firm to design dynamic messaging signs. The goal is to make downtown travel and parking “intuitive and easy,” and better guide drivers to open parking spots.

Martinez says from an employee perspective, most of the phone calls tend to be repetitive. 

“I do have customers coming in saying: ‘Hey, like I have, my husband or my spouse is driving around looking for parking. Do you know of anywhere we can park?’” he said.

He guides customers to garages nearby or street parking, but he’s having to blindly direct them, not knowing if there will be any spots left.

“Availability is a little bit difficult at times, especially on the weekends where downtown is always packed before the farmer’s market,” he said.

The city of Orlando hopes its smart parking project changes that for not only visitors, but people, like Martinez, who lives and work in downtown.

Officials say downtown has significant event traffic causing congestion and travel delays to the area.

The lack of information on parking locations increases the delay and the unnecessary traffic circulation to find parking spaces in downtown.

The city of Orlando’s smart parking project hopes to turn this around.

“Major events can cause issues for a lot of the workers in the downtown area,” said Martinez.

He and his partner had two cars before moving to downtown, but said it was difficult with parking.

“So, we ended up just selling one of the cars to make it easier for us,” he said.

Martinez said it’s a productive initiative for the city, improving residents and visitors downtown experience, while mitigating traffic struggles.

“Orlando is a very busy city with a lot of traffic coming in and out. Knowing where to park and how to get around the city would be so much better, and I think it’s a great step forward in the future,” said Martinez.

City officials say during the development of the Office of Sustainability and Resilience’s future-ready master plan, which included opportunities for public feedback, the city heard from residents that one of their desires was for the city to build on its smart parking initiatives, including the addition of more wayfinding signage to alert drivers and guide them to nearby available parking.

A city spokesperson said the design process for the wayfinding signage is expected to take nine months to complete, then the city will determine next steps and timeline for construction and implementation.

It will be funded from the department’s current year budget.

The city of Orlando recently awarded the downtown Orlando digital wayfinding project to BCC Engineering for $155,393.

The CRA will contribute $100,000 toward this joint effort between the city and the Community Redevelopment Agency.