The primary purpose of this objective has been to maintain air quality and to relieve peak hour demands on the transportation system in and around downtown Portland as the city grows. It also allows for more efficient use and productive use of high value land, and encourages a pedestrian oriented downtown. These objectives are accomplished by limiting the total number of parking spaces in the CBD and by relying on transit service to carry the increased trips that result from new development and job growth in downtown Portland. The plan places the highest density of development and the greatest restrictions on parking along the Transit Mall. The plan places fewer restrictions on parking and lower density development in the areas of the downtown that are not as accessible to transit as the Mall area.
New buildings have maximum limits on the amount of parking provided, with no minimum.
Currently, the downtown is almost at its maximum number of 43,914 parking spaces. To keep the downtown an attractive place for businesses to locate, the Central City Plan relies on public transportation. Tri-Met has responded to the City's policies by providing the service to bring people downtown and then providing them with free travel within downtown via Fareless Square. Since 1972, when the original Downtown Plan was adopted, there has been a rapid increase in the number of transit trips to downtown. The latest draft of the Downtown Parking and Circulation Plan suggests that Tri-Met will continue to absorb most of the growth in trips to the downtown.