Eye on the Street
Decatur Metro | June 24, 2014 | 4:17 pm
East Ponce de Leon Ave, Decatur GA (pic courtesy of Marla Tiara via Twitter)
Close up view courtesy of Gwyneth
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Cool. Although I can’t help thinking about how overwhelmed my grandmother would have been, with her coin purse of nickels and dimes that she carefully saved for the meter. There’s still a coin slot, right? That slit on the right, just under the meter number 7801?
Yes. I zoomed into the picture (because I couldn’t remember and, well, I have the original picture) and it takes nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins.
I just hope that they’re more user friendly than the ones in Va. Highlands.
I hate them. You have to use your tag number. You have to find one as there are only a few scattered about, so you have to unload your kids to waddle over and use it. I hate these downtown and the Decatur ones are even more complicated because of the tag number thing. HATE.
I hope they handle wear and tear better than the ParkAtlanta machines. I’ve seen people in Midtown (including me) display emotions from rage to tears at the inability of those machines to actually process cash and credit cards as intended. It shouldn’t take 10 minutes and repeated attempts just to pay to park.
Too complex. No thank you.
The reason people pay to park on the street is convenience. This takes a good bit of that away, especially if the weather is bad.
Worth the extra to park in a garage.
Resistance is futile.
Actually as someone who never has change in his pockets, I imagine using the app will be more convenient.
I, for one, welcome our new parking meter overlords. š
i was hoping for a full keyboard. disappointed.
Yeah, and shouldn’t there be an app so we can add money to the meter without even leaving our seat at the bar? And Skype so we can converse with meter lady/man who is trying to ticket us?
There is an app – ParkMobile. Atlanta uses it, too. Easier than a machine, and I presume one could add time from the bar
Downside of an app is it can enforce parking time limits ….
If you use the cell phone app you will get a notification and have an option to add more time.
What I really meant is that you could not park longer than 2 hours in a 2-hour-parking zone. I don’t think Decatur has many (or any) such zones. In Atlanta, where parking is by space # and not the car, I’ve seen someone in midtown run out of a bar and buy a new ticket at the end of their N hours. Not that you should, but some might …
The app is really easy to use (I have only used it once, in midtown, but it was much more pleasant than ParkAtlanta’s machines, which yes are not the same as Decatur’s). Once you have an account and payment method (credit card or paypal) setup, it takes mere seconds to use. It can even store profiles of multiple cars with license numbers in the app (pick the car you are driving), so all information you would normally enter at the kiosk at the kiosk is pre-populated.
As far as I know, all of Decatur’s street parking has always been 2 hrs only
This. The parking program has always been to encourage turnover of the spaces so downtown has always been (at least for many years) 2-hour max. Because of the technology, I don’t know how rigorously it’s been enforced but I know I’ve seen our meter maids, errrr, PALS engaging in a little good, old-fashioned tire chalking from time to time.
Does this change the hours of operation for the meters?
There are no hours of enforcement posted. It was previously stated that hours of enforcement would not change and I was not ticketed or warned after parking on the square between 6 & 730. I pushed a button on the machine just to see if it would give enforcement hours but it immediately asked for my license plate.
The hours are supposed to be posted on the machine but I will double check and make sure there isn’t an error. Installation started yesterday so let us know if you see issues like this one. We can easily change and update the read out message on the multi-space pay stations.
I am very happy. Parking has gotten so expensive it takes a roll of quarters to have lunch with a friend. ( I believe two hours is now 12 quarters!) Now I can park when I only have pennies. I have been eagerly anticipating this change. Enlarging the picture, it doesn’t look complicated. I think, given a little patience at first, it will be great.
No pennies allowed. I think the last machines left that take pennies are Illinois toll booths. The Land of Lincoln is the last bastion trying to keep the penny relevant.
Is that Be-Thin-Decatur, or Beth-In-Decatur?
I wish it was Be-thin-in-Decatur:-)
So I guess this spells doom for my beloved broken parking meter in front of the Brick Store. It’s getting harder and harder to skirt the rules around here, I tells ya!
I’ve added a close up view of the keypad area – courtesy of Gwyneth – to the original post.
Lovely Rita, meter maid
Nothing can come between us
When it gets dark I tow your heart away
Standing by a parking meter
When I caught a glimpse of Rita
Filling in a ticket in her little white book
In a cap she looked much older
And the bag across her shoulder
Made her look a little like a military man
“Lovely Rita”
-The Beatles
Also, if this is like the other Park Mobile locations I have parked at you can pay directly on the app from the get go and avoid the machine all-together. This did have a slight additional fee at other locations but could be worth it if thereās a line and you are in a hurry.
Ok and now all we need is one of those sound bubble thingamajiggies like in the movie “Get Smart” so we can have silence while we voice text into our smartphone app. If I have to use my thumbs on my screen, it’s just as fast to walk out the meter.
I believe you mean the cone of silence.
Yes! That’s what we need! A portable cone of silence for all our voice-activated apps!
P.S.: I liked Get Smart on TV when I was little and I liked the movie when I was big. Actually I liked the original TV show better–loved the shoe phone–but I guess that’s no big deal in the era of smartphones. And the original 99 with her mod haircut was better.
Yes, that should be an option here too. Since the Park Mobile should have your tag number stored, it will cut out the need to input it.
One last comment for the day. We also plan to introduce a smart card option for those who don’t want to use their credit/debit card and don’t like typing on their cellphone. The smart card allows you to load money onto the card at one of the pay stations and then insert it in the machine as a form of payment– similar to the Breeze Card at MARTA. We want to get the new system installed, tested and any kinks worked out first but hopefully we will have an abundance of payment options that will make these machines as customer friendly as possible.
If only for the options to pay with plastic and to add minutes via text, this is a positive for Decatur.
I for one welcome our new automated overlords!
I think I was told this as well: Let’s say you pay a meter for two hours. Then your errand only takes an hour. If you go elsewhere in Decatur, your unused time will go with you. (Not 100% sure but I hope this is true.)