Municipality to consider upgrading town parking meters

Municipality authorities are looking into replacing current individual parking meters with newer multi-space parking meters in the downtown area, the Princeton Packet reported.

Potential plans include new parking meter implementation near University Place around McCarter Theatre.

Currently, the central business district has single meters for each parking spot and each one uses coins or "smart cards," that can be loaded up with money to pay, Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert said.

The newer parking meter model would employ individual pay stations for multiple parking spots and would also allow individuals to pay using credit cards or their smartphones.

“Having something that interacts with smartphones is really appealing,” Lempert explained.

As of September, the municipality has been conducting a trial run with the newer parking meters in the Dinky Station parking lot, Lempert said.

Municipality evaluations of the technology have been positive, but some obstacles, including cooperation with American Express, still need to be addressed before municipality-wide implementation of the technology can be achieved, Lempert noted.

Lempert added that a number of towns, such as DuBois in Pennslyvania, that have similar downtown geographies to Princeton have implemented the newer parking meter technologies.