New Parking Meters, Again

[Bobl]

It's been almost four months. Any comments? How is this working?
I have stayed away all this time, except for a few trips to DIA. Guess what? I do not miss downtown/midtown at all.
It is hoped that the City reconsiders the new meters in Cass Corridor, though. Many who live there require on street parking.

[MSUguy]

It's been almost four months. Any comments? How is this working?
I have stayed away all this time, except for a few trips to DIA. Guess what? I do not miss downtown/midtown at all.
It is hoped that the City reconsiders the new meters in Cass Corridor, though. Many who live there require on street parking.

I have no problem with them and love that I can pay with an app so no more feeding the meter.

[Junjie]

It's been almost four months. Any comments? How is this working?
I have stayed away all this time, except for a few trips to DIA. Guess what? I do not miss downtown/midtown at all.
It is hoped that the City reconsiders the new meters in Cass Corridor, though. Many who live there require on street parking.

Visited at the beginning of November and used one of the kiosks on Cass. Thought it was great. Much easier than any parking meter system I've used here in the DC area. And cheap!

[Honky Tonk]

It's been almost four months. Any comments? How is this working?
I have stayed away all this time, except for a few trips to DIA. Guess what? I do not miss downtown/midtown at all.
It is hoped that the City reconsiders the new meters in Cass Corridor, though. Many who live there require on street parking.

Glad to hear you've gone through withdrawal and successfully kicked Midtown/Downtown. I've used the new "meters" several times now and I'm impressed. Way easier to use than the ones in RO or Ferndale. As much as people hate them, meters help businesses, you don't have non-customers tying up parking spaces in front of your establishment all day. I understand multiple vehicles were towed @ Saturdays Noel Night, parked way out of the Green Zone, in unmarked spaces. Conform or die.

[Zacha341]

I was out in the Noel Night fray for a bit, parked at a metered zone by Traffic Jams and for a moment hesitated to coin-it-up.

But thought better for it to add a few quarters. No problem or you get a $45 dollar ticket or a tow job. I like that I can use a debit card too if I don't have coins.

[Zacha341]

Oh, what's that app called. I'd love that!

I have no problem with them and love that I can pay with an app so no more feeding the meter.

[MSUguy]

Oh, what's that app called. I'd love that!

Park Detroit

http://www.parkdetroit.us/

[Bobl]

As the old cantankerous guy on the forum, I must admit that the new meters seem to be more well received here than I thought. Sooner or later, I will likely use them, even though my visits will be fewer.
The City is now yours, young folks. Drive fast, take chances. You do not want to get old!
Peace.

[drjeff]

The meters and app are great in my experience. The app also alerts you when you are running out of time.

[Bigdd]

These meters are not working out well.

First off they do away with the posts / bollards that distinguish where the spaces are. I realize that it doesn't really matter anymore,.. but what I've found during the 2-3 times I've used them is that cars are parked in such a way that where as before there had been 5 spaces,.. there now is 3 cars randomly parked in that area,.. and none of the gaps are big enough to fit a car,.. so the area looses 30-40% of it's parking spots.

Second,. I don't feel comfortable entering my license plate in a government computer [[I have not given them the right to record when and where I've been).

Also,.. my plate is long and hard to remember. Each time I've had to do it, I've had to stop in the middle and return to the back of my car to read the plate again. On top of it being hard to remember,.. I drive 3 different cars on a regular basis.

At least once I forgot a digit, and had to go through the whole process again, and pay a second time.


Couldn't they have just upgraded the kiosks and kept the bollards from the previous system?

[313rd]

These meters are top notch if using the parking app. Pull into a zone, launch the app and enter the info. All your information can be stored in the app and its as easy as selecting a few options. This app also notifies you when the time is near running out and you can reload from your phone. Another nice feature for work, is that they will automatically email you an invoice when the session has ended.

Only negative so far is that there is an hour minimum when using the app. Also, the app charges a 0.15 surcharge.

[Bigdd]

I don't have an app launcher in my car.
.

[Bobl]

I don't have an app launcher in my car.
.

HaHa, nor do I. Still have a concern about over zealous enforcement and no way to prove the space has been paid for, outside of the City's or their vendor's computers.
No big deal. Downtown and the Corridor are pretty much being turned into Royal Oak II, anyway. It's not my turf anymore.

[Zacha341]

I thought it would be using from my phone once I downloaded the app... I have my license plate memorized at this point.

I don't have an app launcher in my car.
.

[Honky Tonk]

HaHa, nor do I. Still have a concern about over zealous enforcement and no way to prove the space has been paid for, outside of the City's or their vendor's computers.

Bobl, If I can learn this, you can learn this, there's nothing to it. Look for the sign that tells you what zone you're in, they're every few feet. Walk up to the silver metal column. Use the big buttons to put in your zone, then your plate #, the amount of time you want, swipe your debit card, [[no pin necessary) and you're done. IF the unthinkable happens, and they write you a ticket, you have your bank statement with the date, time, and who your money went to, as your receipt. Kudos to whoever picked the big yellow buttons and the large screen on the silver metal column. Even I can read the damn thing. No looking for change, meters not working, and you have proof you paid. I really like the system, and I don't like much.

[gvidas]

Second,. I don't feel comfortable entering my license plate in a government computer [[I have not given them the right to record when and where I've been).

For what it's worth, your license plate is a number assigned to you by government computers.

If you're actually concerned about the city of Detroit recording when and where you are parking, stop parking in Detroit. Whether or not you participate in the system, city parking enforcement cars are constantly patrolling, and the entire new system is built around the license plate scanners mounted on those cars.

But most likely, we all live sufficiently boring and doldrum lives that nobody is ever going to bother to figure out where we parked on Tuesday the 6th of October.

[archfan]

Second,. I don't feel comfortable entering my license plate in a government computer [[I have not given them the right to record when and where I've been).

I really doubt the City can get it together enough to track where you've been. Besides, there are so many other ways to track you [[phone, card used to pay for parking, cameras) that I doubt it matters.

Oh, and fix that right taillight.

[Honky Tonk]

For what it's worth, your license plate is a number assigned to you by government computers.

If you're actually concerned about the city of Detroit recording when and where you are parking, stop parking in Detroit. Whether or not you participate in the system, city parking enforcement cars are constantly patrolling, and the entire new system is built around the license plate scanners mounted on those cars.

But most likely, we all live sufficiently boring and doldrum lives that nobody is ever going to bother to figure out where we parked on Tuesday the 6th of October.

How do you know about Tuesday the 6th of October?

[Bigdd]

I don't have a debit card. Haven't used one in nearly 15 years.

The steps to use this are,..

1- Try to find a parking spot [[there are 1/3 less of them, now that cars can randomly park anywhere in the zones,.. so space is inefficiently utilized).

2. go to the back of your car and try to memorize your plate number

3. go to kiosk and go through the process.

3- return to the back of your car to make sure you got the plate number right.

4- Return to kiosk.

5- Pay.

6- Fail to get a receipt,. so that if you get a ticket,.. you'll have nothing to prove you paid. [[Even a debit card won't help,. it won't show the time, the zone, or the plate number that you paid for, only that the city charged your card an amt that calendar day).

7- Keep your fingers crossed that you didn't get a ticket.

8- Return to your car as quickly as you can and hopefully you did;t get a ticket. If you did,... there's no way really to fight it. the city's department for that is so screwed up,.. they won;t even answer the phone for you to dispute it. You can perhaps take a 1/2 day off work to go down an wait in line to file an appeal.


Yeah,.. miles more annoying than simply putting a few quarters in a meter.

[Bigdd]

For what it's worth, your license plate is a number assigned to you by government computers.

Yes,. but the plate doesn't automatically enter it's location, time etc into databases.

If you're actually concerned about the city of Detroit recording when and where you are parking, stop parking in Detroit.

I have. i no longer will go to any business in Detroit that doesn't have private, off-street parking. If it's a place I haven't been to before, I Google map it first to see the parking situation. For the most part I try to avoid businesses in Detroit [[and that's unfortunate, as I own and operate a business in Detroit, and would love to be able to expand the number of places I eat for lunch.).[/QUOTE]

[Honky Tonk]

Yes,. but the plate doesn't automatically enter it's location, time etc into databases.



I have. i no longer will go to any business in Detroit that doesn't have private, off-street parking. If it's a place I haven't been to before, I Google map it first to see the parking situation. For the most part I try to avoid businesses in Detroit [[and that's unfortunate, as I own and operate a business in Detroit, and would love to be able to expand the number of places I eat for lunch.).

Wearing a tin foil hat will stop them from reading your thoughts too.

[Bigdd]

Wearing a tin foil hat will stop them from reading your thoughts too.

Name calling doesn't fix the current parking debacle.

Please try to me more constructive.

[Honky Tonk]

Name calling doesn't fix the current parking debacle.

Please try to me more constructive.

There is no parking "debacle", the meters are working better than expected. You sound a bit compulsive or paranoid if you actually look up businesses and avoid them on purpose because they don't have a private parking lot; and you think the City is keeping tabs on your movements. All this time you're taking advantage of the current rise in Detroit's business climate to make money for yourself. Please PM me the name of your business, so I can make sure I avoid it.

[MSUguy]

Name calling doesn't fix the current parking debacle.

Please try to me more constructive.

Memorize your plates and park it's not that difficult. No different memorizing phone numbers like before there were cell phones.

[gencinjay]

I still don't like the machines much, but the app is great. While I originally would have wanted them to use Parkmobile, their fee is half the cost so that's a plus. It will even e-mail you a receipt if you need to expense the cost.

Bigdd you need to learn to adapt. Things change. Always have and always will. You can refuse modern amenities, but it is your fault when you're left behind in doing so. I'd also add that putting coins in a meter gives you no proof that you've paid in the event you get a ticket. Meter heads have many problems of their own that make them more unfavorable this day and age.