Come April 30, the Madison Parking Utilities will test new high-tech parking meters downtown for 90 days that allow drivers to pay for a parking space via debit cards, credit cards or coin.
The new meters, called multi-space meters, would cost $10,000 per meter, but one meter replaces more than 14 ordinary parking meters, which cost $500 per meter.
The primary reason for implementing the meters is to enable people to pay for parking without struggling to find numerous coins.
William Knobeloch, Madison Parking Operations manager, said the new meters are going to be placed in two areas downtown—the 300 block of N. Henry Street and the 100 block of W. Main Street. He said only areas with a high density of meters would receive the new meters.
""A place that there are likely never to be used is up on the square where we typically have 4 meters per block,"" he said. ""You can't buy a $10,000 meter and hope that [money from that] meter will pay for it, it's not going to happen.""
Currently, the parking rate in Madison is $1.25 per hour, and people are typically only allowed parking for two hours at a time. Knobeloch said the idea for the new meters was not brought about from citizen complaints, but because of new, available technology.
Big cities such as Chicago and New York are the pioneers for the idea, and Knobeloch said they have installed the meters to help cut costs. The Madison Parking Utilities will use the 90-day test run to decide whether they are financially feasible.
Knobeloch said a $.40 cent transaction fee is paid by the city when credit or debit cards are used.
Still, he said the city hopes the new meters will pay for themselves. The meters will most likely produce profits, according to Knobeloch, because more than half of the people who use these new meters often pay the full $2.50 for two hours when they normally are only parked for an hour or even less.
""We don't make money at the parking utilities,"" Knobeloch said, ""we just hope to break even.""
