In an effort to spread awareness about parking options, the City of Royal, Oak, Mich., has partnered with local businesses to offer drivers gifts if they park in garages.

The city owns three garages–with a fourth opening this summer–totaling 3,000 spaces, but closed a surface lot earlier this year. To encourage drivers to park in the garages instead of struggling to find parking elsewhere, it’s partnered with four local businesses to offer a different incentive for drivers who show garage parking receipts during each of four weeks:

  • 15 percent off an order in a local coffee shop.
  • Free fries with any burger or sandwich in a restaurant.
  • 10 percent off purchases in a toy store.
  • Free snack bites in a healthy fast-casual restaurant.

Read the whole story here. Good idea or not so much? Has your municipality tried something similar? Post to Forum about it–we’d love to know.