On a busy summer weekend in Newport, scarce parking causes pain all around. For visitors, it means circling through narrow old streets in search of an open space. It can mean parking illegally, such as in spaces reserved for locals with permits, and finding a hefty ticket upon one’s return. For residents, it means more traffic congestion as clueless tourists go round and round looking for a place to park — or finding them in spaces reserved for permit holders.

And so what a clever idea it is to offer valet parking in downtown Newport. The City Council has just approved a plan to establish two valet stations, one on Washington Square and the other on lower Thames Street. Motorists drive up, leave their cars and have them fetched when they’re ready to depart. The cost is $12, not insignificant, but less than that charged at some of the wharves. And the convenience value is considerable.

Both valet locations are in prime tourist zones. The one on Washington Square would be on the northern end, conveniently placed where drivers arrive downtown via Broadway. The one on lower Thames would be at the corner of Dearborn Street. Travelers on sticky slow Thames should be pleased to have fewer motorists ahead of them hunting for the elusive parking space. Cars left at the valet stations are taken to nearby lots set aside for the program.

The valet-parking plan is now in the experimental stage and is scheduled to end on Sept. 28. But it will be tested during some of the busiest weekends on the Newport calendar. The period includes the Taste of Rhode Island festival and the Newport International Boat Show.

If it works, the program can be a win/win/win situation. Newporters are spared some of the chaos of tourists searching for a parking space. The tourists don’t have to drive around unfamiliar streets prospecting for a place to leave their cars. And the city benefits from an improved visitor’s experience that doesn’t include vehicular frustration and a parking fine.

Congratulations to the Newport County Chamber of Commerce for thinking this up and offering to run the program. It expects the program to net a profit of $3,271 for the period through Sept. 28.

Drivers wanting to try out the valet parking should look for banners indicating the station. Any visitor who has driven into downtown Newport on a hot summer night can imagine the great feeling of getting out of one’s car and handing someone else the keys.

Next stop: More buses. Then in the broad sunlit uplands of the future, trolleys.