Parking in downtown Madison

City garages and lots

The City of Madison Parking Division runs these garages. The city says its garages are open 24 hours a day and allow stays of up to 48 hours.

• Capitol Square North Garage: 218 E. Mifflin St.
• Overture Center Garage: 318 W. Mifflin St.
• South Livingston Street Garage: 111 S. Livingston St.
• State Street Campus Garage: 430 N. Frances St. and 415 N. Lake St.
• State Street Capitol Garage: 200 N. Carroll St.
• Wilson Street Garage: 20 E. Wilson St.

The city also runs five surface lots: Blair (410 S. Blair St.), Buckeye (214 W. Gorham St.), Evergreen (1802 Monroe St.), Wilson (499 E. Wilson St.) and Wingra (800 Garfield St.). Lot rules vary, so check the sign or the lot's page on the city's Garages & Lots page.

Bike racks are in all city garages, and there are EV charging stations in city garages downtown. For current rates, see the city's rate page rather than relying on a printed guide.

Where to find the city's parking map and live availability

The city's Garages & Lots page lists every city facility with its address and a link to its own page. Its Current Hourly Parking Availability page shows approximate open stall counts for the six garages, updated through the day. The numbers change quickly, so treat them as a guide. The surface lots are not gated, so they don't show counts.

The city's pages don't include a single printable parking map. For a map that also shows privately owned lots, the downtown business improvement district's parking map is linked from Visit Madison's downtown parking page.

Paying for street parking

Most on-street meters take Visa or MasterCard and coins, and many can be paid with the Park Smarter mobile app. Multi-space pay stations also accept Discover. You can add time up to the space's maximum, but not beyond it. When the limit is up, you need to move your car, and you can be cited if you stay.

Single-space meters don't print receipts. If you need one, the city points card payers to My Parking Receipts. You can also pay by text: send the zone number on the meter, then your space number and the time you want. The app shows a space's time limit and cost before you pay.

If a meter is broken, report it to the city at 608-265-1877. To pay or contest a parking ticket, use the city's ticket portal at parkingtickets.cityofmadison.com.

Meter hours and holidays

Street meters are enforced 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Some meters also have no-stopping rules during peak traffic hours, so read the sign.

Meters and time limits are not enforced on New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. They are enforced on the Friday after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve. Presidents' Day and Veterans Day are federal holidays but not city holidays, so meters apply.

From November 15 to March 15, alternate side parking rules also apply overnight. Our winter parking and snow guide covers them.

Event days: Capitol Square, Kohl Center and Camp Randall

When many cars leave at once, the city charges a flat event fee at the entrance of some garages, and the amount is posted for each event on the city's Special Events page. Entry is valid for eight hours, and staying longer means paying the facility's hourly rate when you leave. Cards, cash and parking vouchers are accepted.

• Kohl Center events: The State Street Campus Garage is the city garage for Badger events. UW events can also remove metered street parking on Dayton and Frances Streets for hours before the event.
• Overture Center and Orpheum shows: The State Street Capitol Garage and the Overture Center Garage are the garages the city lists for Capitol Square-area venues.
• The Sylvee: The South Livingston Street Garage is the one the city lists for it.
• Camp Randall: The city doesn't list Camp Randall parking. UW Transportation Services sells football game-day parking in campus lots on the day, first come, first served, with a shuttle from some lots and a supervised bike corral. Cars parked illegally in game-day lots are ticketed and towed. See Badgers game day for more.

Plan on arriving early, and check the city's Special Events page for the date you're going, since event garages can change.

UW campus visitor parking

UW-Madison runs its own lots and ramps, separate from the city's. In a campus ramp, take a ticket when you enter and pay before leaving at a pay-on-foot kiosk, a card reader or with a validation. Many surface lots have timed ParkMobile stalls: start a session in the app, on the website or by phone, and enter the zone code on the stall sign. Sessions can't be extended.

Lots shown in green on the campus map are free from 4:30 p.m. to 7 a.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends, but check the entrance signs. Lots can close for events or construction. The campus interactive map is at map.wisc.edu. Our guide to visiting UW-Madison has more on getting around campus.

Residential permit parking

Some neighborhoods near downtown and campus have signs that limit parking to one or two hours except for residents with a permit. The city calls these RP3 areas, and each has its own map on the city's residential permit pages.

The city does not issue temporary or visitor permits. The ordinance doesn't allow them. If you're visiting someone in a permit area, plan around the posted limits, use a garage or lot, or ask the host about nearby unrestricted streets. Permits also don't cover metered streets, alternate side parking or snow emergencies, and don't allow parking on the same block for more than 48 consecutive hours. Check the signs on the block.

Accessible parking

Only a valid Wisconsin disability parking placard or plates allow use of designated spaces, and the person the permit was issued to must be in the vehicle. A permit exempts you from fees and time limits only at meters with limits of 30 minutes or longer. In cashiered sections of city garages and lots, regular fees still apply.

All city lots have accessible spaces, and all garages have them on the ground floor. The State Street Capitol Garage also has accessible spaces next to the elevator on every level. The city's accessibility page lists elevator locations for each garage and none for Capitol Square North, so check it before you go.