For years, the paved and unpaved lot at Atlantic Boulevard and North Ocean Boulevard held about 230 cars. The developer owned the land, and the city ran it as public beach parking, as The Pelican reported in February 2025 when the W Hotel project first put that parking at risk. That lot has now closed. The city replaced it with a free shuttle that runs only on weekends and holidays. Its two new vehicles are a VW I.D. Buzz that seats six and a Ford E-Transit van that holds up to 15.
That shuttle is standing in for a parking garage the City Commission hasn't approved. The same deadlock kept beach parking rates where they were set in 2021. So getting to Fisher Family Pier this season comes down to two choices: pay to park on the barrier island at prices that haven't moved, or park inland for free and let the city drive you over.
A Weekend Shuttle Where 230 Spaces Used to Be
The Fishing Village Shuttle started Friday, October 2. It runs Friday through Sunday plus holidays, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The whole Pompano Circuit fleet is three vehicles. The original GEM e6 seats five and still covers the blue beach zone. The new VW I.D. Buzz seats six and the Ford E-Transit van carries 8 to 15, and both serve the green zone. Every vehicle has room for beach chairs, bags and coolers. The E-Transit is wheelchair accessible, and an ADA-accessible shuttle is available on request.
The money behind it came first. In June, the commission approved a $269,803 contract amendment with Circuit Transit Inc. That added inland neighborhoods as far west as Dixie Highway and Old Town as a weekend pilot, aimed at what TAPinto Pompano Beach described as "severe parking demands on the city's barrier island."
How you use it depends on where you start:
- If you live inside the new green service area, request a ride on the free Ride Circuit app and get picked up at your door for a direct trip to the beach.
- If you live outside it, drive to one of the two free Weekend Park & Ride lots, either City Hall at 100 W. Atlantic Boulevard or the Old Town lot at NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue. From there, request a direct ride to Fisher Family Pier.
- Once you're at the beach, switch to the original blue-zone Circuit to get between Fishing Village, the pier, Harbor Village and the beach hotels. The new shuttle doesn't make stop-to-stop trips.
The blue zone runs every day: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. On weekdays, the green shuttle doesn't run, so the inland lots aren't connected to the beach.
What Each Space on the Island Costs
If you drive over anyway, the price depends heavily on where you park. Here are the city's posted rates, from its parking locations page and the current code schedule:
| Where | Weekday | Weekend | Holidays and events |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pier Parking Garage, 3460 NE 3rd St., hourly | $1.80 | $2.50 | $3.25 |
| Pier Parking Garage, daily flat rate | $10–$15 | $15–$20 | $20–$25 |
| North Ocean Park lot, 3424 NE 16th St. | $1.80 | $2.50 | $3.25 |
| Oceanside lot, 109 N. Ocean Dr. | $1.80 | $2.15 | $2.50 |
| Atlantic and A1A beach lot, Briny Ave., Seabreeze Way, Pier St., Pompano Beach Blvd. | $2.50 | $3.25 | $4.00 |
| Park & Ride at City Hall or Old Town, plus shuttle | Free | Free | Free |
The spaces closest to the sand on Pompano Beach Boulevard and the Atlantic and A1A lot cost the most per hour. On a holiday they hit $4, while the garage tops out at $3.25. The Pier Garage adds 609 spaces, and the public parks on levels 2 through 4. The Oceanside lot has the lowest weekend rate on the island. That lot is the planned site of the garage that never got approved.
To pay on the street or in surface lots, use PayByPhone or Passport Parking. The garage takes cards, tap, Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Why the Meter Hasn't Moved Since 2021
According to Jeff Lantz, the city's parking manager, Pompano last raised beach parking rates in 2021 as demand grew, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported in July. In the same story, City Commissioner Allison Fournier put the demand down to a decade of beachside redevelopment, from the pier to the dining that grew up around it.
"It's not the old, gritty beach town that we used to have in Pompano."
In December 2025, the commission considered two things together. The first was a 20% rate increase. The second was a design-build contract for the Oceanside Garage, a structure with more than 700 stalls at 109 N. Ocean Blvd. The garage contract went to Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., the top-ranked proposer, for a total of $32,876,690. On December 9, 2025, the commission split 3–3 and the award failed, TAPinto reported.
The rate ordinance passed first reading that same night. The city's legislative record now shows it as held. According to the Sun Sentinel, commissioners pushed back any increase until they reach a garage deal. A proposed resolution in the same package would raise the resident discount from 20% to 50%. Until a garage deal comes back, both the higher rates and the bigger discount stay on hold, and the weekend shuttle covers for the lost W lot.
The Resident Discount Ends at the Garage Gate
The 20% resident discount that exists today runs through PayByPhone. To sign up, bring a current utility bill or lease to the Pier Garage office at 3460 NE 3rd Street, or upload it through the city's online application. You have to renew every year.
There's a catch in the code: the discount doesn't apply to parking in the Pier Garage. Registered residents save on the street and in surface lots. In the garage, where most of the remaining beach-area spaces are, they pay the same as everyone else.
Take a registered resident parking on Pompano Beach Boulevard on a Saturday. They'd pay 20% off the $3.25 weekend rate, or $2.60 an hour. That's still more than the garage's undiscounted $2.50, and well above the $1.72 the same resident would pay at the Oceanside lot. For any resident inside the green shuttle zone, a Saturday at the pier costs nothing in parking.
Where the Holiday Calendar Meets the Shuttle Map
The shuttle runs on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, and several of the city's 'Tis the Season events fall on those days.
- Saturday, November 28: Light Up MLK runs free from 5 to 8 p.m. at Annie Adderly Gillis Park, 601 Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd., with music, performances, food and the seasonal lighting.
- Friday, December 4: The Untapped Tree Lighting Ceremony starts at 6 p.m. at 41 NE 1st Street in Old Town, close to the Old Town Park & Ride lot on NE 2nd Street. You could spend the afternoon at the pier, ride back on the shuttle and walk to the tree lighting without moving your car.
- Friday, December 11: The 64th Annual Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce Holiday Boat Parade brings more than 50 boats up the Intracoastal from 6 to 9:30 p.m. under the theme "A Party in the U.S.A." Seats on the Chamber's parade boat are $200 per person with an open bar, and the parade streams on Facebook and YouTube. Since it's a Friday, the shuttle runs until 10 p.m. that night.
- Saturday, December 12: The Green Market Holiday Edition runs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Yuletide on Atlantic is on Thursday, December 3, from 6 to 9 p.m., a weeknight when the green shuttle doesn't run. The Festival of Lights Hanukkah celebration at the Palm Aire Gazebo is on Sunday, December 6, from 4 to 7 p.m. That's during shuttle hours, but the shuttle only goes between its zone and the beach, so it doesn't help you reach Palm Aire.
If the city calls an event day on the island, garage and street parking switch to the holiday-and-event column in the table above. The garage's daily flat rate can go as high as $25.
At The Coastal Realm, we pay attention to details like which side of the green shuttle line a street sits on, and we bring that knowledge to every conversation about Pompano Beach. If you own near the beach or inland and want to know how changes like these affect your property, Schedule Your Free Market Consultation and we'll walk through it with you.
