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The City of Columbus Parking Violations Bureau began updating all 4,215 parking meters on Tuesday and expect the project to be complete around Labor Day. Double-check the sticker on your meter, as many areas will have newly extended enforcement hours running through 10pm.
The new rates are as follows: 30 minute meters at $1.00 per hour; Two, three and six hour meters at $0.75 per hour; and 12 hour meters at $0.40 per hour.
The meter updates have been brought to you by a collaborative effort of the Parking Meter Advisory Team which spent several months meeting and reviewing data after the initial 50% rate hike caused a wave of public outcry. The new rate changes are still being utilized to fund reserve bonds for the new Convention Center Hotel and eventually will fund the replacement of all existing parking meters with “smart meters” that will accept credit and debit cards. Additional new meters will be installed in areas throughout Downtown, The Brewery District, The Short North, Italian Village, and the University District where there are currently no meters. The first “smart meters” are expected to be in place toward the end of this year.
“Double-check the sticker on your meter”
Does this mean they are going to go around and put stickers back on the meters that have been torn off?
Yes, sounds like all of that signage is being replaced to have the new enforcement times listed. If they’re the same type of stickers they’ve always used though, I expect half of them to be ripped off within the first 2 weeks.
I guess I should have said “double-check the sticker on one of the meters around you because hopefully at least one still has a sticker on it”.
I was an unfortunate victim of this last week. $25.00 parking ticket on my car when I returned from a restaurant in the Arena District. What kind of city makes it more difficult for people to stay and or come downtown to enjoy its nightlife with out having to worry about getting a parking ticket? Most larger city’s I’ve been to, parking on the street is free after 6pm.
I’ve been in areas where ALL of the meters have had the stickers torn off. Will all meters go until 10pm? If not, it would be nice to have some kind of meter “hotline” one can call to find out specific hours for specific meters.
What a ripoff. Downtown is dead after 6pm and one of the few things that made it easier was free parking after 6. I don’t need to be gouged for patronizing downtown businesses.
Is there a map of what is going where?
“What a ripoff. Downtown is dead after 6pm and one of the few things that made it easier was free parking after 6. I don’t need to be gouged for patronizing downtown businesses.”
So the Short North and Campus is dead after 6pm too? This isn’t just downtown. From a previous article about this extending to 10pm would include the following areas -
Extend meter hours of enforcement to 10 PM in areas with nighttime metered parking needs like the Short North, Grandview Avenue, Gay Street, North Market, Arena District, and OSU Campus.
I’d suggest going back and reading up on the previous articles about this under “similar posts” above.
I welcome the enforcement till 10pm (and much better than crazy increases they proposed before). It’ll improve turnover on the streets and hopefully make it easier to find parking in areas where that’s a problem.
FYI see below. They are actually *DECREASING* the rates in several areas by enforcing till 10pm.
30-minute meters
Now cost up to $1
Changed to 50 cents.
Two-, three- and six-hour meters
Now range from 40 cents to $1.50 will
Changed to 75 cents per hour
12-hour meters
Now range from 20 cents to 40 cents
Changed to 40 cents per hour.
To get a perspective, this was the old (insane) proposed rates back in the fall -
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/local_news/stories/2009/12/02/METERRATES_large.jpg
newsphotog6801 Says: What kind of city makes it more difficult for people to stay and or come downtown to enjoy its nightlife with out having to worry about getting a parking ticket? Most larger city’s I’ve been to, parking on the street is free after 6pm.
Sorry to hear about your ticket, but parking meter enforcement varies so much from city to city that I don’t think what Columbus currently is altering is really that out of line. Chicago for example enforces meters 7 days per week and many of their meters until 9pm. (LINK)
The purpose of parking meters is to keep customer flow moving for businesses. If too many people are coming to the Short North and parking for free from 6pm to Midnight (and they are) it prevents new customers from visiting. There are area of Columbus where this is a current issue (Short North, Grandview, Gay Street, OSU) and other areas where it’s not (most of Downtown) which is why the 10pm enforcement will only be in the areas that have more of a night time destination focus. It makes sense from a business perspective.
jtwill84 Says: It would be nice to have some kind of meter “hotline†one can call to find out specific hours for specific meters.
I’ve never tried, but 311 might be able to help: http://311.columbus.gov/ (Edit: Nevermind, they close at 7pm and aren’t open Saturdays, so that probably doesn’t help).
If every single sticker is torn off (I’ve been in that situation) I try to guess based on time remaining on nearby meters. If you still end up with a ticket, you can call the number on the ticket to complain and get your ticket waived. I’ve done that before with a broken meter that resulted in me getting ticketed.
jazzypants Says: Is there a map of what is going where?
Not that I’ve seen. Here’s a map of the old system that might give you at least some idea of how zones are being consolidated.
They are changing the meters along Goodale Park right now. You may want to spread the word.
More good news on the parking front:
From the Dispatch…
City Council asked to hire more parking meter enforcers
Those parking tickets aren’t going to write themselves, you know.
More than a month after city crews began adjusting Columbus parking meters to extend their hours to 10 p.m. and adjust their rates into a new, more uniform price structure, City Council is being asked to hire more people to enforce them.
http://blog.dispatch.com/thecity/2010/07/if_theres_one_thing_columbus_n.shtml
From the Dispatch…
Meter changes feeding debate
City: It’s too soon to gauge success of parking switch
By Ben Wolford
A third of Columbus’ parking meters now have different rates, time limits or hours, pleasing those who pay less and ruffling routines for those whose favorite spots now cost more.
“I’m riding my bike now,” said Martha Snee, a baker at Omega Artisan Baking in the North Market.
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/08/02/copy/meter-changes-feeding-debate.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
READ MORE
I became a casualty of the new extended hours. Parked in Arena at 6:15pm, got out and checked the meter times, rifled endlessly through my car for anything silver, decided to go to ATM, forgot debit card, cursed my luck, hit up carry out on 3rd and Grandview instead with my credit card, got drunk at home.
I can’t wait for the debit card meters.
Slightly off topic, but it regards meters.
I got ticketed by one of Mayor Mike Coleman’s thugs when I was downtown before I even got out of the car. The storm trooper pulled up right behind me before I even had a chance to even see that the “no stopping” during the hours of 4pm – 6pm sign (it was 4:15pm) near the courthouse parking garage on Mound St.
After I looked up, I finally noticed the sign and was like “oh crap…” and before I even had time to turn the engine back on to move my car, the fuzz was flashing behind me and the officer approached my car and impolitely asked if “I knew how to read”. Well, I politely told him I didn’t notice the sign at first, but was about to move the car as he pulled up behind me.
I guess this guy was just a cold, heartless person because he issued me a $45 ticket and another $50 ticket because he said my license plate was expired (which it was not, the sticker was just missing because some punk must have torn it off). Now I know these guys can see whether or not my plates are actually expired because I’m sure it shows up on their computer system (come on, when they run your plates they HAVE to be able to pull up that information, especially since they can pull up everything else about you). Of course I’m contesting both of them, because I have proof from the BMV that my license plates were NOT expired. Also, the officer called a tow truck in just to mess with me (lucky for him my car was not towed because I would have sued the city for harassment).
What bull shit right? Protect and serve my ass, some cops are just legalized bullies!