WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.-- When you find a green parking meter not occupied by a vehicle in downtown West Palm Beach it can feel like hitting the jackpot.
"I just circle around town and then look for a spot," said one driver.
"It's a little bit of a hassle as far as street side parking," added another.
Now, with the help of a new survey,city leaders are hoping to make is easier to park downtown.
Uyen Dang is the city traffic engineer. She says the answer could be as simple as making the city's parking garages more enticing to park in.
Right now she says parking is usually at 60 percent use which means around 40 percent of parking downtown is going unused. "So we are proposing first hour free in our garages. So we think that will really encourage more people to park in the garage," Dang said.
Assistant West Palm Beach City Administrator Scott Kelly says $1 million will go towards garage upgrades including a parking guidance system to track and tell visitors where spots are available in the garage. "We are hoping that we will have something this spring in regards to changes that we feel will make improvements to our overall parking."
The online survey will only be available a few more days.