Evanston Motorists Can Now Pay Parking Fees Using Credit Cards

Evanston residents will now have a more convenient way of paying parking fees. Last week, the City of Evanston installed new parking meters that can accept credit card payments. The 41 parking meters are strategically placed in downtown areas and will have an initial run of 90-days. During this trial period, city officials would assess the public's reception to this new payment scheme. They will also be testing the machines' performance in severe winter conditions. Examples of mechanical problems that may arise during extreme cold weather are batteries going dead and ice buildup.

Every day from 8 am to 5 pm, motorists are allowed to use the meters for two hours. On the other hand, drivers can park their vehicles for four hours from 5 pm to 9 pm every day. City officials decided to extend the time limit during evenings to accommodate local businessmen so that they will not have to leave their establishments to pay for additional parking fees or look for available parking slots. Doing so, they would be able to focus more on their business and attend to customers. Typically, restaurant owners or business owners have to leave their stores or offices every so often to either find another available parking slot or add change to parking meters. This practice has been observed to drive away customers and clients when people see that there are not enough people on hand to attend to their needs.

City officials said that they are always looking for ways to improve public services to make residents' lives more convenient and easier. This new parking meter gadget is just one of the innovative technologies the city has adopted to enhance its delivery of public services.

Another compelling reason for the city's adoption of credit card reading parking meters is for ease of transaction. Instead of people digging in their pockets for change to pay for parking, this time around all they need to do is just swipe their credit cards in the meter slots.

A lot of residents were elated with the development in the city's parking payment methods. A lot of people complain that counting for change to pay parking meters is a tedious task and that coins are normally used up for other transactions such as laundry. Moreover, looking for vacant parking spaces around the city can take a lot of time, since during certain hours of the day most slots are occupied.

With the introduction of the new credit card reading machines, the overall parking experience of Evanston drivers would drastically improve, with payments being a whole lot easier given the fact that most motorists own credit cards.

Doug Nicholas

Doug Nicholas, a financial consultant by profession with a Masters degree in International Business from Brown University, is also an ardent writer. Though he has a full time job at one of the companies listed on Wall Street, he does manage to squeeze in time to follow his passion. He puts his ideas to words in his articles related to finance and business.