Parking payment app comes to downtown Columbia

In downtown Columbia, time often takes the form of money.

Drivers in the city may soon have to rely less on coins to pay for parking meters downtown, and instead use a smartphone app. The use of Parkmobile continues to expand there, and will soon be available at the 1,700 spots. Parking utility supervisor Tanner Morrell said the city currently has 700 spots equipped for Parkmobile use, and will get the other 1,000 up to speed by November.

Ivan Cano stopped by downtown Columbia to eat Monday night, but he and his friends found themselves without change to pay for the meter. Cano, who is working at the Lyceum Theater in Arrow Rock for the next few months, is a native of New York City. He doesn’t own a car, and instead uses a card to pay for public transportation.

“Everything is usually a kind of card,” Cano said. “You have your metro card that takes you on the subways and pretty much all the buses. So, I rarely have change in New York as well.”

Right now, Parkmobile has grown from a few spots on the north side of the downtown area to more popular locations, such as stretches of East Broadway and Ninth Street. A 2012 task force in Columbia examined downtown parking, and recommended an expansion of meters that either take debit or credit cards. The city first approved its partnership with Parkmobile, USA in December 2014, citing how much people liked the meters that took cards on Ninth Street that were installed the year prior. Morrell tells ABC 17 News the city will fully transition to card-capable meters in three years, spending $100,000 in the process. Those meters will still have the option to use change, giving drivers three different methods to pay for street parking.

Parkmobile requires users to give credit card information and a license plate to use. Drivers enter a Parkmobile “zone” number attached to the parking spot. In Columbia, it sometimes comes in the form of a sign tied to the post, or a placard attached to the meter itself. A user pays the same rate for parking as normal, but also pays a 45-cent “transaction fee.” That price increased since Columbia first agreed to the deal with Parkmobile, which then charged 35 cents. Morrell said the city has the option to end its agreement with Parkmobile if the fee becomes “excessive.”

Users of Parkmobile won’t see the time show up on their meter when they pay. Instead, parking enforcers will see the license plate information associated with the paid zones around downtown.