IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Cleveland, Ohio, Looks to Implement ‘Smart’ Parking Meters

The city has published a project request seeking proposals from companies to replace the city’s 2,500 single-space, coin-operated parking meters and 26 multispace parking kiosks.

parking meter parking tickets
(Shutterstock)
(TNS) — The City of Cleveland seeks to replace its system of parking meters with a new, more modern, “smart” system that can take credit cards or payment through an app, the city announced Thursday.

The city published a project request Thursday that seeks proposals from companies on how to replace the city’s 2,500 single-space parking meters and 26 multi-space parking kiosks. Companies seeking to apply for the project need to provide a variety of “contactless” ways for people to pay, such as Apple/Google pay, through an app or QR code, according to the request for proposal.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb touted the new plan as “customer friendly and convenient,” according to a Thursday news release.

City officials are “looking at” whether this could raise parking costs, and spokeswoman Marie Zickefoose said the city’s on-street parking is “below market rate.”

The City of Columbus recently changed its parking meters to adopt a smart system, with some areas seeing a minor increase in parking costs, according to Columbus Underground. Others have criticized Columbus’ change in parking technology for not providing reasonable accommodations for people without credit cards or the extra cellular data needed to process digital payments, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

Cleveland is accepting proposals through Nov. 3 and plans to implement the parking system beginning in Summer 2023.

©2022 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit cleveland.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.