This is the 75th anniversary of the on-street parking meter. To celebrate, the City of Raleigh is installing 193 new pay stations for on-street parking. The installation is to be completed by the end of April, barring inclement weather.
Mayor Charles Meeker lead a demo today in front of City Hall where the first three pay stations have been installed. The mayor was joined by Duke Hanson, regional vice president for Duncan Solutions, the vendor for the project, and Gordon Dash, the City’s parking administrator.
The new pay stations will be installed throughout Downtown bounded by Edenton, South, Blount and Harrington streets. The pay stations also will be placed along Glenwood Avenue from Hillsborough Street to Peace Street in the Glenwood South area. An additional 20 pay stations will be placed on Hillsborough Street between Oberlin Road and Gardner Street starting in the fall.
The City is installing the new pay stations at the behest of Downtown businesses. The businesses complained that the same vehicles were occupying on-street parking spaces throughout the day, thus not allowing the spaces for the short-term parking for which they are intended. The businesses and the City encourage motorists to use one of the nearly 8,800 City-owned parking spaces that are available Downtown in garages.
The installation of the new parking stations also brings changes for motorists with handicapped placards. These motorists will now be required to pay for their on-street parking. They will be allowed to re-feed the meters, unlike motorists who are lacking the handicapped placard.
Duncan Solutions is providing the pay stations to the City for at least eight years. The cost of the 193 pay stations is $1,147,385. The installation cost is $150,920 for a total project cost of $1,298,305. The Duncan VM pay stations will accept nickels, dimes and quarters and Visa and MasterCard credit card transactions. The illuminated LCD surface provides interactive messages that guide users through the transaction of renting the numbered parking space.
The City will offer a two-week grace period with each installment of the pay stations during which parking enforcement officers will be made available to assist customers with operating the machines and answer any questions. Regular enforcement of other parking-related offenses will continue during this time. New blue metered parking signs will be put up at pay station locations to provide instruction on how to pay for parking. These signs will replace the current green time zone signs.
The new pay stations will allow Downtown visitors to pay for parking time in 15-minute increments, from 15 minutes up to the maximum time allowed for the particular parking time zone. The minimum payment amount for credit card users will be $1. Parking time restrictions currently in place will not change when the pay stations are installed.
The pay stations generally will not accept payment in any form from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays and all day on weekends and holidays as complimentary parking is provided during those times. However, the pay stations will allow visitors to prepay their parking time on weekdays only starting at 6 a.m. All prepaid time will take effect at 8 a.m.
Duncan Solutions VM pay stations use green cell zinc-air battery technology that contains no lead, creates no greenhouse gas and is classified as non-hazardous for disposal. To save energy, down-time maintenance costs caused by mechanical failure and to reduce litter, VCM pay stations do not print receipts. The stations have stainless steel housing that is weather and vandal resistant.
Prepared by:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Gordon Dash
Parking Administrator
Public Works Department
222 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-996-3030
