Two hours of free parking available at North End’s Acushnet Avenue business district for the holidays

Effective through Wednesday, January 1

In effort to encourage holiday shopping in New Bedford, the City will again offer a special Holiday Parking Program in the North End’s Acushnet Avenue business district during the holiday season. Two hours of FREE parking will be available at metered spaces on Acushnet Avenue in the North End through Wednesday, January 1.

Anyone parked at a meter on Acushnet Avenue in the North End while doing holiday shopping who receives a ticket as a result of parking in excess of the 2-hour limit may mail or present their ticket along with a copy of a sales receipt for $10 or more from a downtown restaurant or merchant to the City of New Bedford Traffic Commission office within three weeks (21 days) of receiving the ticket. The parking ticket will be forgiven with the presentation of the same-day receipt.

The downtown parking garages – the Elm Street Garage and the Zeiterion Garage – are also offering free parking for up to two hours through January 1. Metered street spaces downtown will no longer offer free parking, after earlier this year the parking limits at meters were extended. In October, the City announced that parking limits were to be extended from the former 2-hour limit to 3-hour, 4-hour, and unlimited, in several zones of downtown New Bedford, as part of the 2019 Downtown & Waterfront Parking Study.

The Traffic Commission office is located at 51 Elm Street and is open from Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Questions regarding the Holiday Parking Program should be directed to the Traffic Commission Office at 508-961-3153.