By admin 
Starting right before Thanksgiving, travelers will have to pay up to $7 more per day to park at the Sacramento International Airport.
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The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a resolution authorizing a one-time parking rate hike at the airport’s daily lots, economy lots and garages. The increase will take effect when the new 5,537-space parking garage opens in November. Twenty-four-hour maximum daily rates will go from $21 to $28 for garage parking, $14 to $19 for daily lots and $12 to $14 for economy lots.
The resolution also included annual $1 increases at those parking locations from 2028 to 2031 and set maximum parking reservation rates at $34 per day in garages, $25 per day in daily lots and $20 per day in economy lots starting Jan. 1.
The airport requested the higher rates because parking costs had not kept pace with inflation and were “significantly lower than other airports in California and local downtown parking options,” a county staff report said. The current $21 maximum daily garage rate is about 34% less than the average downtown garage rate of $32 per day, officials said in the report.
County staff estimate the rate adjustments will generate an additional $16.1 million in parking revenue for fiscal year 2026-27, excluding parking reservation revenue, according to the staff report. Staff project up to $140 million in additional parking revenue over five years with the incremental increases. Airport officials said the additional revenue would help pay for new parking amenities, as well as rising debt and operating costs.
The new parking garage cost about $290 million, the parking revenue and control system cost about $5.3 million, the parking guidance system cost about $5.5 million and the parking reservation system cost about $1 million, according to a Department of Airports presentation Tuesday.
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Three people submitted public comments opposing the resolution, according to Board of Supervisors meeting documents.
One commenter, who signed the name William Friedman, wrote specifically in opposition to the one-time increase and not the annual $1 increases. The commenter said the rate hike would make the airport less accessible, adding that there is not a “reliable public transportation alternative like light rail” in place.
Currently, Sacramento Regional Transit Route 142 shuttles riders every 60 minutes to the airport. Yolobus provides bus service every 30 to 60 minutes to the airport on routes 42A and 42B.
“The one time market adjustment being proposed takes away one of the great features of living in Sacramento: an accessible airport,” they said. “SMF is the rare airport that works for the people. The new garage should enhance that accessibility, not serve as an excuse for onerous rate increases.”
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