new york — Parking meters in New York City are being upgraded.
The Department of Transportation said the new meters work with new paperless Pay-By-Plate technology, which allows users to enter their license plate number instead of displaying a receipt on their car’s dashboard.
Installation of the new meters will begin Wednesday at West 166th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in Upper Manhattan and continue from 2024 until next year, expanding to all five boroughs.
“More efficient parking for busy New Yorkers”
The retrofit meters will feature large, full-color touchscreens, multiple language options and a contactless credit card payment system, DOT said.
“Pay-by-plate meters say goodbye to paper receipts on dashboards and offer simpler, more efficient parking for busy New Yorkers on the go,” said DOT Secretary Ydanis Rodriguez. It will be helpful.” “It’s a time saver for people who pay by plate.”
The city has 80,000 metered parking spaces and produces 2,500 miles of paper receipt rolls annually. Rodriguez said pay-by-plate not only saves the city money, but also has other benefits.
“This new technology will not only improve the user experience, but will also reduce maintenance costs each year and save enough paper to travel from New York City to Los Angeles,” Rodriguez said. “This change is good for the environment and good for business, as more people will be using limited parking spaces.”
New meters put an end to a common but illegal practice
Officials said the new technology will also help save parking time and the hassle of moving to another zone or vehicle.
DOT said Pay-By-Plate reduces illegal activity. Traffic enforcement officers use handheld devices to check toll plates. This is the same enforcement process already used in the ParkNYC app.
“It would be helpful if that were the case, but it would probably be another moneymaker for the city,” Anthony Flowers owner Lambros Barbaziannis said.
Barbaziannis said he knows people are reusing the same ticket in multiple zones.
“This way they reduced it,” he said.
Some praised the city for finally starting to embrace technology.
“Today is a great day. Everything is digital. This is something I’ve been waiting for a long time,” said Luis Mercedes of Yonkers. “That’s perfect.”
