• discussions >
• TJ Mongers

Parking Information

PutaTester

West Coast. He who dies with the most memories wins.

Drove down to TJ Friday afternoon. Only took six hours to make the three-hour drive. Once there, it took me almost an hour to find parking on the US side. (I always walk across.)

Part of the issue was that traffic trying to cross the border by car was backed up to the second to the last USA exit, so I took that exit. In town, the traffic was also backed up more than what I have observed to be typical. Tried to park at my usual lot, Sunset Parking. Since I was in the lane that leads auto traffic into Mexico, it was moving at the rate of one car per cycle of the traffic light. Sat on line for about 30 minutes when I decided to try La Paz parking, which is on the right side of the street where there were few cars.

The lot was small, maybe 40 slots, but there were plenty of open slots. Might be a reason for that. The sign said $25, but didn't indicate for what period of time. So, there is a catch. The clock starts at 8:00 am. Even if you park at 6:00 pm, if you are not out before 8:00 am the next day, you are charged for another day.

Originally I tried to pay for two days, but the woman in the kiosk said I have to be out by 8:00 am Sunday. I asked if I could buy a few extra hours. (I had a TLN scheduled with an ATF who usually stays the morning until at least 9:00 am and I didn’t want the pressure of worrying about the car being towed, so I paid through Monday. I got back to the lot at about 10:00 am, so I paid $25 for two hours.

The lot behind Jack n The Box had a sign out that said $15 for eight hours. If I had parked there, I doubt that I would have saved anything, considering that I was in TJ for about 32 hours, I don’t know how their clock works. Weekends, parking is almost twice what the weekday rates are.

I wondered what would happen if I over stayed my time. Got my answer. Sunday morning I observed five cars booted.

I don’t often drive down. Typically I take the train or fly (depending on my starting point) and take the trolley to the border. Now I get why some guys who drive down risk parking at the Byer trolley stop.