If you parked downtown this week and noticed signs about an app, you weren’t imagining things. Tyler switched on paid parking Monday, October 12, 2026, using the Honk app. It costs $2 for two hours, then $1 for every additional hour. Enforcement runs 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but the city is only issuing warnings during the first week, so you have time to download the app and get comfortable with the system before it starts hitting your wallet.

The free options are still out there, and they matter more than ever. The Fair Plaza Garage at 208 South College Ave. and the Smith County Garage at 210 East Ferguson Street cost nothing. Parking is also free on weekends, holidays, and for disabled drivers. If you end up in one of the paid lots at Plaza Tower or People’s Parking Lots A & B on North Bois D’Arc Ave., you’re looking at $1 an hour or $10 for the full day, and those lots turn free after 5 p.m. and on weekends.

All of this is happening while downtown construction keeps traffic weaving around cones and closed lanes, so a little patience goes a long way. Paid parking is one of those changes that says a lot about where a city is heading, and Tyler is clearly heading somewhere bigger than it was ten years ago. Whether the new fees help local businesses or make folks think twice about stopping in is the real question. What do you think: is paid parking a fair trade for a better downtown, or one more reason to stay home?