Phone Parking Meters

[roadman65]

In Galveston, Texas they now use pay by phone parking along the Seawall and also along The Strand.  Instead of meters you pay your parking by phone on both of those streets.

Anyplace else have them where you park and pay over your phone to park?

[mrsman]

In Galveston, Texas they now use pay by phone parking along the Seawall and also along The Strand.  Instead of meters you pay your parking by phone on both of those streets.

Anyplace else have them where you park and pay over your phone to park?

Is pay by phone the only method for paying for parking?

In this area, there are many streets where paying your meter by app is an option.  What tends to be quite common are pay boxes where you then enter a space number or put a recipt on the dashboard.  These pay boxes accept cash and credit cards as well as phone apps.

https://ddot.dc.gov/page/pay-phone-parking

[formulanone]

In Galveston, Texas they now use pay by phone parking along the Seawall and also along The Strand.  Instead of meters you pay your parking by phone on both of those streets.

Heh, I'm there this week and maybe if the rain lets up I'll check it out. This is one of the rare weeks I get to stay by a beach instead of an off-ramp.

Usually, there's some sort of pay station and you just throw the little card on your dashboard.

Edit: ...here it is. It allows for other methods, such as calling a number.

[jeffandnicole]

Wildwood, NJ has had the system in place in 2015.  https://parkmobile.io/newsroom/parkmobile-expands-parking-options-with-mobile-payments-for-wildwood-new-jersey/

[1995hoo]

As mrsman notes, DC and several surrounding jurisdictions offer the Parkmobile option in addition to paying either at a conventional meter or a "pay-and-display" station. You don't have to have a smartphone–there's a way to call a toll-free number and pay over the phone. I've used the app many times to pay, especially back before they built the new soccer stadium because there used to be 12-hour meters back in that area and it was a super-cheap and easy way to park for baseball games and using the app meant not having to bring a pile of quarters. (There is a flat fee per transaction for using the app; the most recent time I used it, it was 45¢. Often worth it, IMO, especially for longer parking durations. I once paid for eight hours of parking on a 12-hour meter during the baseball postseason. At 25¢ per half hour, the total came to $4.45 once you add the transaction fee. Sure beats $40 in the left field parking garage.)

I've never had a problem using the app, but some people get caught out by the fact that the meter's display doesn't change. This makes sense when you stop and think about it, especially at conventional "dumb meters"–they're not connected to the Internet or anything else, so of course the display can't change when you pay by phone. You have to enter your license plate number when you pay by phone (I have all four of ours saved in the app), and what's supposed to happen is that when the meter maid runs your plate number she'll see you paid. Seems to work in my experience. I've heard of other people who say they used Parkmobile and got ticketed anyway, but I have no way to know whether it was meter maid error, Parkmobile error, or user error. I tend to assume the third option.

Regarding the "pay-and-display" meters (I think New York calls them "Muni Meters") where you go to a mid-block pay station and put the receipt on your dashboard, I find the new ones DC recently started using to be annoying because you have to enter a space number. That effectively restricts the amount of parking on the block just like the old dumb meters did when you had one meter per space. That is–when they first rolled out the pay-and-display meters, you just paid and put the receipt on the dashboard, so if your car fit into an open gap, you could park. It was great for smaller cars. Now by requiring space numbers they're saying you can't use those gaps. It wastes parking space.

I know some people who don't like pay-and-display meters because you're far less likely to find a meter with unexpired time unless the person who's leaving hands you an unexpired pay slip when he sees you waiting for his spot (I've done that, although a couple of times I've saved the slip when I wanted to record the expense for tax purposes). It seems to me the phone-based payment would just make that issue worse because the payment is specifically tied to your plate number, so I can't park there and pay for, say, three hours, then leave after two hours and transfer the remaining hour to, say, NE2 if he shows up and wants to park.

[jeffandnicole]

Regarding the "pay-and-display" meters (I think New York calls them "Muni Meters") where you go to a mid-block pay station and put the receipt on your dashboard, I find the new ones DC recently started using to be annoying because you have to enter a space number. That effectively restricts the amount of parking on the block just like the old dumb meters did when you had one meter per space. That is–when they first rolled out the pay-and-display meters, you just paid and put the receipt on the dashboard, so if your car fit into an open gap, you could park. It was great for smaller cars. Now by requiring space numbers they're saying you can't use those gaps. It wastes parking space.

I recall Philly saying the benefit of the pay stations is that it eliminates those gaps, and in theory another car or two can fit into the available curbed parking space.  Their system also is programmed for time prohibitions, so if parking is generally limited to 3 hours, and I park at 3:15pm on a street that won't permit parking after 4pm, I can only enter enough money for 45 minutes of parking.  The downside - I can only enter up to 3 hours of money if I park at 10am but don't plan on leaving until 2pm.

So if DC wants motorists to put in spot numbers, they are clearly missing out on a revenue benefit of the machines.

I know some people who don't like pay-and-display meters because you're far less likely to find a meter with unexpired time unless the person who's leaving hands you an unexpired pay slip when he sees you waiting for his spot (I've done that, although a couple of times I've saved the slip when I wanted to record the expense for tax purposes). It seems to me the phone-based payment would just make that issue worse because the payment is specifically tied to your plate number, so I can't park there and pay for, say, three hours, then leave after two hours and transfer the remaining hour to, say, NE2 if he shows up and wants to park.

Yeah - the city absolutely benefits with the system here.  I've heard some modern parking meter devices can also detect when a car leaves the spot, and will clear out any time left on the meter before the next car shows up, but luckily haven't run into that yet.

[1995hoo]

Regarding the hours of enforcement, the Parkmobile system does something similar in terms of knowing when meter enforcement ends. That is, say those 12-hour meters were still there and I pulled up at 5:30 PM to go to a 7:00 ballgame. The meters were only in effect until 6:00 or 6:30 (I forget which), so the app wouldn't let me pay for anything beyond that time–so if metered hours ended at 6:30, it'd charge me 95¢ (50¢ in meter fees plus the 45¢ transaction fee) and it wouldn't let me say I wanted to park until 10:30. The meter, of course, would happily take as many quarters as you're willing to give it.

Interesting twist–there are some meters near Nats Park that are in effect on Sundays and holidays. I parked at what I understood to be one of those once. Parkmobile didn't charge me the meter fees, saying they weren't in effect, but charged me the 45¢ transaction fee. It did show that I had "paid" to park for however many hours, though. I did not get a ticket. Did I waste 45¢? Maybe, but on the other hand, I didn't get a ticket, so 45¢ is cheap insurance if in fact the meter maid came around while I was at the ballpark.

I haven't used it to pay in the downtown area where you have to pay between 6:30 and 10:00 but the two-hour limit isn't in effect, but it wouldn't be hard to program it to allow for that. (That is, in parts of downtown DC the meters are in effect in the evening but you can park as long as you wish, as long as you pay until 10:00 if you want to stay that late.)

Interesting thing, BTW, is that while it's technically illegal to feed the meter to park beyond the two-hour (or whatever-hour) limit, the Parkmobile app won't prevent you from doing that. Fifteen minutes before your paid time expires, it sends a text message or e-mail or pop-up notification if you allow it to do so.

[roadman]

All the parking lots and garages within the MBTA subway and commuter rail system have been converted to pay by phone.

[hotdogPi]

I don't think pay-by-phone should be the only option. What if your battery hits 0%? What about those who have their phones stolen without realizing it?

[SectorZ]

Regarding the hours of enforcement, the Parkmobile system does something similar in terms of knowing when meter enforcement ends. That is, say those 12-hour meters were still there and I pulled up at 5:30 PM to go to a 7:00 ballgame. The meters were only in effect until 6:00 or 6:30 (I forget which), so the app wouldn't let me pay for anything beyond that time–so if metered hours ended at 6:30, it'd charge me 95¢ (50¢ in meter fees plus the 45¢ transaction fee) and it wouldn't let me say I wanted to park until 10:30. The meter, of course, would happily take as many quarters as you're willing to give it.

Interesting twist–there are some meters near Nats Park that are in effect on Sundays and holidays. I parked at what I understood to be one of those once. Parkmobile didn't charge me the meter fees, saying they weren't in effect, but charged me the 45¢ transaction fee. It did show that I had "paid" to park for however many hours, though. I did not get a ticket. Did I waste 45¢? Maybe, but on the other hand, I didn't get a ticket, so 45¢ is cheap insurance if in fact the meter maid came around while I was at the ballpark.

I haven't used it to pay in the downtown area where you have to pay between 6:30 and 10:00 but the two-hour limit isn't in effect, but it wouldn't be hard to program it to allow for that. (That is, in parts of downtown DC the meters are in effect in the evening but you can park as long as you wish, as long as you pay until 10:00 if you want to stay that late.)

Interesting thing, BTW, is that while it's technically illegal to feed the meter to park beyond the two-hour (or whatever-hour) limit, the Parkmobile app won't prevent you from doing that. Fifteen minutes before your paid time expires, it sends a text message or e-mail or pop-up notification if you allow it to do so.

What you call insurance there, I call theft.

[1995hoo]

"Theft"? It was 45¢. Paying the meter using quarters would have cost more.

[SectorZ]

"Theft"? It was 45¢. Paying the meter using quarters would have cost more.

They told you it was free by not charging you, right? They collected a 45 cent transaction fee for a non-transaction. Maybe that would bug me more than it bugs you I guess. 

[1995hoo]

"Theft"? It was 45¢. Paying the meter using quarters would have cost more.

They told you it was free by not charging you, right? They collected a 45 cent transaction fee for a non-transaction. Maybe that would bug me more than it bugs you I guess. 

They told me they thought it was free, but meters near Nats Park are enforced on weekends and holidays. So I would have fed it coins had I not opted to use Parkmobile.

[UCFKnights]

Yeah - the city absolutely benefits with the system here.  I've heard some modern parking meter devices can also detect when a car leaves the spot, and will clear out any time left on the meter before the next car shows up, but luckily haven't run into that yet.

I've run into meters where, if you try to add additional time after 5 minutes from your initial parking time, it doesn't add the time onto your clock but rather resets it back to 0 before adding your new money. Was annoying as crap and seemed like outright theft.

[1995hoo]

What do you mean by "plugging a meter"? I've never heard that expression before and in my mind it conjures up an image of someone jamming the coin slot with something to prevent the insertion of further coins.

I assume that's not what you meant and that you're referring simply to feeding extra coins in order to extend the paid time beyond the meter's time limit?

[mrsman]

What do you mean by "plugging a meter"? I've never heard that expression before and in my mind it conjures up an image of someone jamming the coin slot with something to prevent the insertion of further coins.

I assume that's not what you meant and that you're referring simply to feeding extra coins in order to extend the paid time beyond the meter's time limit?

I assume that's what he meant as well.  So if you're talking about an old-fashioned mechanical meter with a 2 hour limit, let's say $1/hr.  You initially pay your $2.  The machine won't take any more.  You come back 1:45 later to add in some more time as your appointment is running long and add in an extra 1 hour.  The meter will let you stay for an extra hour (for a total of 2:45), and won't sense a violation.  But you can still get a ticket if a parking cop catches on that you overstaid your 2 hour limit (maybe by recording plates or by chalking tires).  In many areas, the parking cops aren't that adept and will only ticket you if your meter registers a violation without keeping track of how long you actually stayed.

This brings up an interesting question, that perhaps will be addressed by cities as technology improves, is to what extent the system will allow you to add time using apps (or even a pay station, assuming you use the same credit card for both pay transactions) even though doing so would mean overstaying your time.  From 1995hoo's experience, it seems like Parkmobile will allow you to pay for additional time despite a signed limit on a street sign.  Could you still get a ticket even though you paid the fee?

I could imagine in areas where turnover is not happening quickly enough, the city could get wise to the fact that people are adding in time without moving their cars and put in a limitation based upon account numbers and phone number and credit card numbers.  So far I have not seen that in practice.

[The fines in many cities take this into account.  There are separate fines for staying beyond the time limit and for not paying the meter.  If you "plug the meter" you are likely still liable for the fine for overstaying the time limit, but it isn't necessarily easy to catch you.]

[1995hoo]

The other interesting wrinkle is that Parkmobile uses a "zone number"  that you enter to tell it where you are. In some places, the zone number may apply to a whole block or multiple blocks (the area where Audi Field is now used to be like that). In theory, the time limit could apply to the whole "zone"  rather than just a single block.

[UCFKnights]

What do you mean by "plugging a meter"? I've never heard that expression before and in my mind it conjures up an image of someone jamming the coin slot with something to prevent the insertion of further coins.

I assume that's not what you meant and that you're referring simply to feeding extra coins in order to extend the paid time beyond the meter's time limit?

I never heard that phrase either, is it actually illegal to put more money into a meter after the initial parking anywhere? I assumed the max time allowed just had nothing at all with the meter, and was typically enforced through marking tires or tags.

Where I live now, when I go into the government office, I have to park at metered parking, and if they take me back and handle me quickly, I can typically only put 30 min in the meter, but randomly, they decide to take a late lunch, or there's a line of people in front of me, I can end up needing 2 hours or so, and I often don't know till I've just been sitting their waiting, so the ability to add more time seems critical.

I ran into it when I visited somewhere (can't recall where) and was going to try out a restaurant, put an hour in the meter (even though the street allowed 2 hours), went in the restaurant, looked at the menu, found out there was a 30 minute wait, decided I should go stick another 30 minutes on the meter, to account for that wait, and it reset as soon as I tried to add more money, even though I still had 45 minutes on the clock.

[frankenroad]

We have them in Cincinnati.  Some are individual meters and some are zones.    All these meters/stations also take credit/debit cards but most of them do NOT take coins.

I have the app and use it at least once a week.   The nice thing is you can extend your time on a meter if you need to without leaving your barstool (or wherever you happen to be). 

The only thing I don't like is it seems they are increasing the rates and effective times more often, since it's a quick programming change for the city.

[1995hoo]

What do you mean by "plugging a meter"? I've never heard that expression before and in my mind it conjures up an image of someone jamming the coin slot with something to prevent the insertion of further coins.

I assume that's not what you meant and that you're referring simply to feeding extra coins in order to extend the paid time beyond the meter's time limit?

I never heard that phrase either, is it actually illegal to put more money into a meter after the initial parking anywhere? I assumed the max time allowed just had nothing at all with the meter, and was typically enforced through marking tires or tags.

....

I assume the law varies from city to city, but the way I've always understood it is that when the sign says "2-hour parking," it means you may park for up to two hours regardless of the amount of time for which you pay the meter–that is, say it's a conventional meter and I'm leaving with 20 minutes left and you pull in to use the remainder of my time. You can park for those 20 minutes plus another 1:40. If, when the 20 minutes are up, you pay for another two hours (say because all you have are quarters and you'd need a dime or nickel to get to the 1:40 time), you could be ticketed after the 1:40 ends (that is, after you've been parked there for two hours) even though there are 20 minutes left on the meter.

How well-enforced that sort of thing is will obviously vary from place to place. In my admittedly unscientific observation over the years, it seems like college and university parking enforcement tend to be the most religious about ticketing for that sort of thing.

[jeffandnicole]

This brings up an interesting question, that perhaps will be addressed by cities as technology improves, is to what extent the system will allow you to add time using apps (or even a pay station, assuming you use the same credit card for both pay transactions) even though doing so would mean overstaying your time.  From 1995hoo's experience, it seems like Parkmobile will allow you to pay for additional time despite a signed limit on a street sign.  Could you still get a ticket even though you paid the fee?

In Wildwood's case, you can add time as long as you don't go over the signed maximum time.  Using the website I was able to locate all the locations this app can be used.  Clicking on a few of them revealed the same restriction.

https://support.parkmobile.io/hc/en-us/articles/208634507-Wildwood-NJ-Parkmobile-Info#Payments

Can transactions in zones in this area be stopped? Extended? Why or why not?

You can not stop a session once started. You must select the amount of time you want in advance and pay for that time with your credit card. If you chose more time than you needed, you will not be able to stop the session or get a refund.

You are able to extend your parking time, if you see that you need more than the amount you initially paid for, as long as you haven't already chosen the meter maximum. Example: if the meter maximum is 2 hours, and you chose 1 hour, you can then extend your session before it expires for an additional hour. Note that extensions are separate transactions, and therefore each extension carries a transaction fee as well.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Duluth has pay by phone, which the downtown zones on Superior St do not have pay stations like the spots in Canal Park so it's either pay by phone or coins in that atea. The city developed its own unique app called Park Duluth. I used it this spring once, no complaints about it or the process I guess, though I did wonder if the time it was going to take to download the app and enter my card information sitting in an expired space could leave me vulnerable if the planets aligned properly.

[Rothman]

I remember when parking on Michigan Street was free.  I used to park on the street when I worked in the Lonsdale Building.

[mrsman]

I wanted to relate my experience with parking meters as I was in Downtown Baltimore a few days ago.  A few interesting things about Baltimore is that most of their meters, particularly in richer parts of Downtown, are now using pay stations where you can pay (cash or credit/debit) and then display your receipt on your dashboard.  Not aware if you can pay by app yet.

What is interesting is that Baltimore is using dynamic pricing.  The meters on any block are priced with the goal of having 75% -85% of the spaces taken at any given time, so that a space on the block, theoretically, is always available for the next customer.  Unlike dynamic tolling, the pricing change is not instantaneous; instead, the price is adjusted every 6 months to assure availability.  And there are clear big signs on each block showing the parking rate (as big as the no parking signs).  [I am not aware of any other jurisdiction that does that, generally the price is very small print on each individual meter.]  So you can drive around to find   a price that you are willing to pay.

And the prices do vary.  Some areas are as low as $1/hr to as high as $3.50/hr.  And they are trying to gage the prices accurately, and not always by raising the price.  I know that where I parked for my recent appointment had cheaper parking than a similar spot on the same block last year.

Here is an example of a parking sign with price:

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2912444,-76.6115799,3a,75y,84.39h,74.17t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1scN0M_IsbDCtHjVOfC1XPcA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en


In the last few years, Baltimore streets have undergone some changes, including bike lanes and bus lanes that result in fewer parking spaces on the street.  Yet the dynamic parking is working, at least from my limited experience, as it isn't more difficult to find a space, even with fewer spaces.  And of course even the most expensive street parking is much cheaper than garages that tend to charge you a lot for the first hour.  Many of the on-street spaces allow you to park for up to 4 hours, which seems unusually time generous for a meter [most in my experience are 1 hour or 2 hours].

[Eth]

Many of the on-street spaces allow you to park for up to 4 hours, which seems unusually time generous for a meter [most in my experience are 1 hour or 2 hours].

I was a little surprised by the prevalence of 10-hour metered parking when I was in Seattle last week. (That happens to equal the length of the enforcement window, meaning it's effectively metered all-day parking.)