The city used to run public parking on two lots, one paved and one unpaved, at Atlantic Boulevard and North Ocean Boulevard, a few steps from Fisher Family Pier. Together they held about 230 cars, according to The New Pelican. The developer always owned the land. It is now the site of W Pompano Beach Hotel & Residences, and the city's own Pompano Circuit page refers to "the closure of the W parking lot" as settled.
The city's replacement is a free shuttle and two park-and-ride lots, one on West Atlantic Boulevard and one in Old Town. A beach afternoon in Pompano now often starts several blocks inland, and the shuttle runs only on the days of the week when Old Town's own calendar is busiest.
What the W Gives Back, and When
The project at 20 North Ocean Boulevard is a 24-story tower with 77 condominium residences and 296 condo-hotel suites. Related Group and BH Group are building it with Marriott's W Hotels brand. When it opens, the ground level of its garage is planned to hold 145 public parking spaces, The New Pelican reported. That replaces about 230 surface spaces. Completion is projected for 2028 to 2029, according to The Real Deal's June 2026 roundup and the developer's project page.
Even once the tower is finished, the corner will hold about 85 fewer public spaces than it did. The shuttle is how the city covers that gap during the construction years, and it is built to bring people in from elsewhere.
The Replacement Parking Is on West Atlantic and in Old Town
The Fishing Village Shuttle started on October 2, 2026. It is a free, on-demand expansion of the city's Pompano Circuit, and it carries riders to and from Fisher Family Pier and the beach. It works two ways:
- From home. If you live or work inside the new service area, shown in green on the city's map, you can request a ride from your door straight to the beach and back. When the city commission approved the expansion, TAPinto Pompano Beach reported that it would reach neighborhoods west of Federal Highway, as far as Dixie Highway and Old Town.
- From a park-and-ride lot. Anyone coming from outside that area can park free at City Hall, 100 W. Atlantic Boulevard, or at the Old Town lot at NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue, then request a direct ride to the pier.
Rides are booked through the free Ride Circuit app, or you can wave down a driver. The fleet has three vehicles, seating five, six and 15 passengers. Wheelchair-accessible service is available, and the vehicles take beach chairs, bags and coolers. In practice, a family can park on West Atlantic and bring the whole beach setup in one trip.
The service follows one rule worth knowing before you book. The green shuttle is only for trips between the inland area and the beach. It does not run between stops inside the expanded area, or between stops along the beach. Rides around the beach district stay on the existing Beach Shuttle.
The Pier Garage Is Still There, at Beach Prices
Driving to the sand is still possible. The Pier Parking Garage at 3460 NE 3rd Street offers public self-parking on levels 2 through 4. These are the rates in the city's current parking ordinance:
- Pier Garage: $1.80 an hour on weekdays, $2.50 on weekends, $3.25 on holidays and event days
- Pompano Beach Boulevard, east side, and Atlantic Boulevard between A1A and Pompano Beach Boulevard: $2.50 an hour on weekdays, $3.25 on weekends, $4 on holidays and event days
Pompano residents can register for a 20% discount when they pay for parking by phone or app, but the city's ordinance excludes the Pier Garage from that discount. The city's parking FAQ says resident permits are currently suspended. It lists monthly garage permits at $100 for the rooftop and $150 for covered spaces. Rates and permit rules change, so treat these figures as general information and check the city's parking pages before you count on one.
A weekend afternoon in the garage now costs money, while the trip from City Hall is free. Weekends and holidays are also when the garage charges its highest rates, and those are exactly the days the shuttle runs.
Friday Through Sunday Is the Whole Design
The Fishing Village Shuttle runs Friday through Sunday, plus holidays, from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Beach Shuttle keeps longer hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. A Tuesday swim still means driving and paying. A Saturday at the pier no longer has to.
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, this year. Because the green shuttle also runs on holidays, the long weekend's beach traffic gets the inland option for four straight days.
This Season's Calendar Mostly Lands on Shuttle Days
Lay the city's November and December events beside the shuttle schedule and most of them line up. These are the events still ahead from mid-November on:
| Event | Date | Time | Where | Shuttle running? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music Under the Stars, presented by Briny Irish Pub, with Laura Goodstone | Friday, Nov. 13 | 7–9 p.m. | Great Lawn, Atlantic Blvd. and Pompano Beach Blvd. | Yes |
| Green Market | Saturday, Nov. 14 | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | Pompano Beach Cultural Center campus, 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. | From 11 a.m. |
| Old Town's Backyard Jam, with Mix Tape | Friday, Nov. 20 | 6–9 p.m. | Old Town Pompano | Yes |
| Green Market | Saturday, Nov. 28 | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. | From 11 a.m. |
| 11th Annual Light Up MLK | Saturday, Nov. 28 | 5–8 p.m. | Annie Adderly Gillis Park, 601 Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Blvd. | Yes |
| Yuletide on Atlantic | Thursday, Dec. 3 | 6–9:30 p.m. | East Atlantic Blvd., Riverside Dr. west to SE 24th Ave. | No |
| Old Town Untapped, Waist to Chest's Christmas Spectacular | Friday, Dec. 4 | 6–10 p.m. | Bailey Contemporary Arts, 41 NE 1st St. | Yes |
| Greater Pompano Beach Chamber of Commerce Holiday Boat Parade, 64th annual | Friday, Dec. 11 | 6–9:30 p.m. | Intracoastal Waterway | Yes |
| Green Market | Saturday, Dec. 12 | 9 a.m.–1 p.m. | 50 W. Atlantic Blvd. | From 11 a.m. |
| Music Under the Stars, with Happy Daze | Friday, Dec. 18 | 7–9 p.m. | Great Lawn | Yes |
| Old Town's Backyard Jam, with Indigo Dreamers | Friday, Dec. 18 | 6–9 p.m. | Old Town Pompano | Yes |
Music Under the Stars is held on the second Friday of most months. The music ends at 9 p.m. and the green shuttle runs until 10, so there is time to get back to a car parked at City Hall or in Old Town after a night on the Great Lawn. Yuletide on Atlantic is the one big beach-side event of the season that falls on a Thursday, outside the shuttle's days. For that parade, the garage and metered lots are the way in.
The Green Market sits on the Cultural Center campus at 50 W. Atlantic Blvd., and City Hall's park-and-ride lot is at 100 W. Atlantic Blvd. The Pompano Beach Historical Society runs the market with the city. On those three Saturdays, the market runs until 1 p.m. and the shuttle starts at 11 a.m., which leaves a two-hour overlap. You can park once, shop the market, and ride to the pier for the afternoon.
Old Town Becomes the Beach's Other Front Door
The Old Town lot at NE 2nd Street and NE 2nd Avenue is a free park-and-ride on weekends, and it sits in the same district that hosts Old Town Untapped and Backyard Jam on Friday nights. The district already has places to eat and drink. The city describes The Vault as an operating restaurant and bar run by owner Jessica Spillman. It also says Yonathan Ghersi, who owns 26 Degrees, added a kitchen to the brewery.
Before October, a beach day and an Old Town evening were two separate trips with two separate parking problems. Now one free lot handles both. You can ride to the pier at midday, come back to Old Town by late afternoon, and stay for a Friday show at Bailey Contemporary Arts. The same pattern works on a smaller scale at City Hall with the Green Market. The city built the shuttle because of the W lot, and for the next few years it also puts Old Town between many beachgoers and the sand.
When the W's garage opens, the pier will have 145 public spaces next to it again. Until then, the free parking for the beach is in Old Town and on West Atlantic Boulevard, from Friday through Sunday.
Changes in how people reach the water can change how buyers look at the streets around it, from the pier to the Old Town blocks the shuttle now serves. If you own in Pompano Beach and want to know where your home stands as the W goes up, The Brescia Group can start with a clear, current number. Get Your Instant Home Valuation.
