Parking on Durango’s Main Avenue later this summer will still be possible with a few quarters. But parkers also will be able to cover the charge by swiping a credit card or by using an app on their hand-held device.
Rates will be higher, but it will be easier to pay them. Fair exchange?
Two levels of sophisticated meter heads will make this possible.
On Main Avenue, from 5th Street through 12th, all of the above features will be available. On the side streets in either direction of Main, using an app will not be possible. Expense is the reason.
The good news is that the new meter heads will not contain the feature that returns the meter to zero when a car pulls out. Those who have parked in parts of downtown Denver have knowingly or unknowingly experienced that: Never does the parking space that you pull into have time on the meter.
We all know that finding 10 or 15 minutes on your meter can change the day. Suddenly, you have a bounce in your step, and you’re saying “good morning” to everyone within earshot.
It feels that good.
And why not capitalize on it with the tag line, “The town where you can find time on the meter?”
The app is as intriguing. Enter the meter number into the app and the charge for the time you expect to park is billed to your credit card. When time is about to expire, you will receive the electronic-gadget beep sound. But if you are some distance away, or you are still at lunch, the app allows you to add time to your meter. Better than a $9 ticket.
Everyone loves to complain about parking, and sometimes for good reason. That ticket at 5:40 p.m., just 20 minutes before parking is free, spoils an evening.
Technology has come to the parking industry, and drivers ought to adapt to it. Quarters will still do, but they are not the plastic and the chip-filled devices that make options possible.
