Starting today, St. Louis will offer limited parking meters that accept credit cards as part of a pilot program to explore a potential overhaul of meters throughout the city.
That means that in certain select locations, you can park in a metered spot...without quarters. Hooray!
"We realized that St. Louis was behind the curve a little bit," Treasurer Tishaura Jones tells Daily RFT.
Where can you find these special meters?
The treasurer's office, as part of a pilot program called "No Change, No Problem," is rolling out a total of 60 new meters that accept credit and debit cards in the Central West End. These meters will run for six months. Drivers can still use coins at these pilot meters and the rates are the same with no additional fees.
Just more convenient, says Jones.
"We are just getting as much public input as we can," she explains.
These new meters also come without any upfront costs to the city, she adds, since they are on loan.
Buying them and implementing them throughout the city, however, could be very costly. Jones says that each individual meter costs about $500.
"We'll exhaust all options," she says.
For now, though, the city is starting small, just to see if drivers take advantage of these options -- and moving forward, officials will analyze the costs.
"We are hopeful that people will like it," she says.
Today, in some places, you might be able to park for free! For 30 minutes, that is.See anyone wearing this button in @thecwea on Fri - show them ur check-in for 30 mins free parking #stlparkingmeters twitter.com/stltreasurer/s...
— St. Louis Treasurer(@stltreasurer) May 9, 2013
The city has a launch event at the intersection of Euclid Avenue and Maryland Avenue from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Sam Levin on Twitter at @SamTLevin.
