Cleveland will soon replace coin-operated parking meters with credit card-enabled kiosks and a mobile parking app in an effort to modernize city services.
The $5 million smart meter program, approved Monday night by Cleveland City Council, will begin later this summer Downtown and expand to the rest of the city. The meters will be replaced by 100 single- and 600 multi-space, credit-card enabled 鈥渟mart meters鈥� supplied by Flowbird. Users will also be able to pay by app, text or scanning a QR code with ParkMobile.
Signage for ParkMobile, which will includes the zone numbers and payment instructions, will take 9 weeks. The entire program, including the kiosks, will be available within 6 months.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a really important step to modernize our system, make it more welcomingly accessible and more dynamic,鈥� said Transportation Committee Chair Kerry McCormack.
McCormack said the new system will not only bring the city鈥檚 parking program up to date with others in the region, some of whom have had mobile parking or credit card options for a decade, but also encourage visitors to areas they may otherwise avoid.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard from a lot of other people that they don鈥檛 carry change anymore, it鈥檚 really inconvenient, they鈥檒l avoid areas like Downtown because they鈥檙e unsure of how they鈥檙e going to park,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o not only is it outdated, but I think it impairs our ability to create a welcoming place for people that are coming to our commercial districts in vehicles.鈥�
As one parking measure moved forward, council tabled progress on a proposal from Mayor Justin Bibb's administration to . They will meet later this summer to consider the proposed ordinance.
