Providence expands paid parking hours, installs new meters. Here's what you need to know.
PROVIDENCE – Good news and bad: The city's legions of broken parking meters are finally being replaced, but you'll have to shell out more money to park as enforcement hours are growing.
The parking rate will hold steady at $1.25 an hour and 75 cents for half an hour, but drivers will have to pay from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. citywide. Previously, downtown and Federal Hill were the only areas where drivers needed to feed the meters until 9 p.m. Now, that will apply to all other areas of the city. In a news release, the city said the change is about "ensuring consistency citywide." Parking will still be free on Sundays and holidays.
The new electronic meters are being funded with $1.26 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. All meters, not just broken ones, are being replaced. The job started last week and is expected to wrap up in May.
In total, the city is installing 1,056 single-space meters and 102 multi-space meters.
More than half of meters were broken, city estimates
The city estimates 60% of its old meters had stopped working, causing a gradual slide in revenue.
In fiscal year 2018, the total meter revenue amounted to $3.6 million, while in 2023 it reached only $1.6 million, the city reported.
How do the new meters work? A variety of payment options available.
The new meters will allow drivers to pay with various options including "coins, credit or debit cards and contactless methods such as text-to-pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay," the city said. Drivers will also still be able to use the Passport Parking mobile app that allows payment via phone. The old parking meters had not accepted credit cards.
The single-space meters will looks much like the old ones with an added slot for credit cards. A digital screen will show prompts, and buttons below the screen will allow the user to add time. The multi-space meters, which are larger, will feature a more prominent screen and require users to punch in their license-plate number on a keypad.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence expands paid parking hours, installs new meters. What to know
