Cambridge Council Votes 7-2 to Raise Parking Permit Fee, Replace Senior Exemption

CAMBRIDGE -- March 30, 2026, Cambridge City Council votes 7-2 to raise residential parking permit fee to $75 and replace automatic senior exemption. The substitute policy order, co-sponsored by Councillors Nolan, McGovern, Zusy, and Sobrinho-Wheeler, eliminates the blanket senior exemption and replaces it with a universal self-certification checkbox allowing any resident to pay a $25 hardship rate without documentation; handicapped permits remain free. Councillor E. Denise Simmons, voting no, called the shift "demeaning" to low-income seniors: "The default should not be to strip away a protection and force people to ask for it back." A motion to refer the order to the Transportation Committee first failed 4-5. Transportation Commissioner Brooke McKenna's 2024 analysis, cited repeatedly on the floor, found the program costs $75 per permit to administer against current fee revenue of roughly $1 million, leaving the city absorbing an estimated $2 million annual deficit. The city manager is directed to report back to the Transportation Committee before June, ahead of the January 2027 permit cycle. The council also voted unanimously to direct the city manager to study regulation of data centers in Cambridge, advancing a separate 9-0 vote to send proposed Welcoming Community Ordinance amendments to a second reading.