BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 3, 2024
The town of Bar Harbor is banking on continued high demand for its paid downtown parking, after revenue from the program more than doubled in the five years since it started. This year, the summer tourism mecca has increased the number of public downtown parking spaces for which it’s charging the premium rate of $4 per hour. That’s twice as much as the cheaper spaces that are farther away from the intersection of Maine and Cottage streets, which cost $2 per hour in the two-tiered fee schedule. After the program took in $1.65 million during its first season in 2019, that number rose to $3.4 million by last year. This year, the town aims to bring in $3.6 million.