Metro

The Altoona Parking Authority will begin enforcing its regulations on the streets May 11.

Workers have not been writing tickets for on-street violations since August, when employees of parking management consultant Metropolis asked city officials to look for ordinances that give explicit jurisdiction to the authority for street enforcement, to ensure authority workers were on solid footing in issuing tickets.

A search turned up no such ordinance, but City Council since then has adopted an ordinance that confers street enforcement powers on the authority.

At a meeting Tuesday, there was a proposal to begin enforcement Monday, May 4, but board member and City Manager Christipher McGuire suggested delaying the start for a week.

Fines for violations are now $15, plus a $6.50 transaction fee, for a total of $21.50.

The authority recently raised the fine amount from $5.

There are 25 meters downtown, many near Tom & Joe’s restaurant, and otherwise, generally, free parking for two hours.

There was a brief discussion about whether safety violations like parking in front of a fire hydrant should merit a larger fine, but that idea was rejected.

Payment methods discussed

Authority officials are continuing to discuss possible expansion of payment methods for the areas of downtown where the authority charges for street parking — where those 25 meters are currently located.

There is a desire among some stakeholders for the continued presence of meters or their equivalent in those areas, according to Pacifico.

One option is to pay $77,000 for eight pay station kiosks that could take credit cards and cash, according to senior manager Jess Bilko of Metropolis.

Each kiosk would govern the zone in which they are located, officials said.

Such kiosks, however, are not only expensive, but they’re heading for obsolescence, according to Bilko.

Metropolis is removing the ones it has in Harrisburg, and within 10 years, they’ll be rare, she said.

Another option is a T2 parking machine, each one of which, like the kiosks, govern multiple spaces. Bilko said.

“(T2 machines) support multiple payment methods (credit card, mobile wallet) and technologies like Pay-by-Plate, Pay-by-Space and Pay-and-Display to allow users to pay for parking easily, extend time via phone and receive receipts,” according to an online source.

Then there are more modern parking meters, installed one for each space, that take cash and also accept credit cards, debit cards, coins and smartphone apps (Apple Pay, Google Pay, specific city apps), according to authority officials and an online source.

There are also mobile apps like ParkMobile, which allow users to find, reserve and pay through their smartphones, while also commodating text-to-pay, according to an online source.

Metropolis uses scan-to-pay, with signs in the parking garage and surface lots bearing QR codes that smart phone users target to access the Metropolis payment website.

Nothing has been decided yet on how to handle those pay-to-park areas on the street, said Metropolis office manager Nadine Miller.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.