The City of Windsor is trying out a new option to pay for parking - and avoid unwanted tickets - without having to scrounge for change.
John Wolf, manager of traffic operations for the city, says, "Right now there's a pilot project, where we installed meters that accept payment by credit card...Those meters are about $600 a piece, times 50, so its about a $30,000 project."
The meters are expensive because they are powered by the sun -- one of the reasons why this pilot project will last a full year before any decision is made about all of the city's 1,500 parking meters.
Wolf says "If there's not enough sun, is there going to be an operational issue with the meters where maybe it doesn't get charged and doesn't work?"
All the meters are along Wyandotte St. E. where the roadway was re-built this fall.
Joan Charette, co-ordinator of the Walkerville BIA, says, "It's a good thing to be a guniea pig about anything that makes it easier for people and pedestrians and shoppers all that to come down and support you, yes."
She says the Walkerville BIA is used to pilot projects, having already road tested dedicated bike lanes, and she sees these meters as just another good reason to head to Walkerville.
"People go to a restaurant and you can walk around afterwards and do some shopping...there's groceries, there's pharmacy, there's restaurants - there's so much down there to look at, so anything that makes it easier for them not to get a ticket."
The pilot project will end next November and then the city will crunch the numbers to see if enough people are using credit to justify outfitting some of the rest of city's coin-only meters.
