Philadelphia Parking: Feeding the Meter Smartly

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If you park on the streets in Center City, there are two ways to feed the meter. You can drop in a hand full of quarters, or you can pay with a plastic Smart Card.

The card is “smart” because varying amounts of money can be used and it will not add more than the time limit. Smart Cards came out in 2004, but many Philadelphia drivers prefer not to use them.

Nbuduizi Azi lives in Philadelphia and has never used a Smart Card. “I don’t even know what it is, I’ve never heard of it, “ said Azi.

Melissa Flagg commutes from Plymouth Meeting to work in Philadelphia. She has used a Smart Card in the past but is not huge fan of them. Her problem is the $4 maximum that can be used at the meter.

“The Smart Cards come in increments of $10 so if your going to be using them, you’re left with $2 at the end,” said Flagg. “It’s not exactly convenient.”

Both Flagg and Azi prefer the new parking kiosks. In July 2009, hundreds of coin meters in Center City were removed and replaced with high-tech, solar powered kiosks.

The kiosks allow drivers to pay for the amount of parking time desired, and then it prints out a receipt. The driver places the receipt on the dashboard to display the expiration time.

A huge advantage of the kiosk is that it accepts so many different types of payment.

Drivers can pay with coins, dollar bills, credit and debit cards, or a Smart Card.

“Usually every time I come down here I find a parking spot and just use a kiosk,” said Azi. “It’s a lot easier now. Before, I would try to find somewhere free to park because I didn’t have change.”

The Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) believes the new parking technology benefits both the citizen and the city.

Linda Miller, deputy director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, thinks that Smart Cards are catching on. “It’s definitely easier for the citizen when they can keep a Smart Card in their wallet and not have to worry about all those quarters, ” said Miller.

Miller said that more people are using their credit cards in kiosks. In the next two months PPA will double the number of kiosks in Center City and University City. There is no plan, however, to expand kiosks into the neighborhoods.

“The rates in the neighborhoods are lower,” said Miller. “They are only 50 cents an hour versus Center City where its $2.00 an hour.” She explained that the PPA’s reasoning for switching to kiosks was to decrease the amount of coins being used, which is more cost efficient in Center City.

Smart cards can be purchased at over 200 retailers in the city like WaWa and ACME stores. A list of stores is on the Philadelphia Parking Authority Web site at https://shopping.netsuite.com/c.667537/site/list_retail.html