About Us

HISTORY

The Springfield Parking Authority (SPA) is a body politic, corporate and a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, created and approved by the Mayor and City Council of Springfield and the Massachusetts Legislature in 1981. The SPA is responsible for the management of a comprehensive public off-street parking system in support of economic development activities in downtown Springfield. The Springfield Parking Authority also manages the City’s on-street parking and towing operations. This includes maintenance of all on-street parking equipment, monitoring of on-street parking usage, citation issuance, collection and booting of vehicles and parking studies to better serve the City of Springfield parking needs.

FUNDING

The SPA is a public enterprise which is financially independent of the City of Springfield. It uses fees collected at its parking facilities to cover the costs of operation and debt service. The SPA develops its budget based on a break-even analysis and raises its fees only when needed to cover the costs of operation.  The SPA issues its own bonds (with the approval of the mayor), owns property, enters into contracts in its own name, and may exercise the power of eminent domain with the prior approval of the Mayor and City Council. It also issues its own Parking Violation Notices (parking tickets) for rules infractions in its parking facilities.

OUR ROLE IN THE CITY

Management at the SPA works diligently and cooperatively to assist event planners with their parking needs. The parking facilities are safe, clean and well lighted. The SPA’s security contractor, Jackson Security, works with the community and the local police department to monitor the facilities. The SPA encourages its patrons to be responsible when parking and has developed a handout explaining certain safety tips to employ. Patrons are reminded to lock cars, take keys and entry tickets or key cards and to put valuables in the trunk or out of sight. The easy accessibility and visibility of the SPA facilities has played an important role in downtown development. Look for our Springfield Parking Authority logo and park at a reasonable price.