The Boston Globe reports New parking card in Boston means no more scrounging for quarters to feed meters "Mayor Thomas M. Menino will introduce a parking debit card today to give drivers another option at 7,200 Boston meters that until now were coin-only.
The officially named Boston Meter Card is designed to be swiped at the time of parking and again when leaving, so drivers pay only for time used, down to the nickel. That means no more racing back to fill an expiring meter or driving off with time left on the clock."
"The prepaid cards can be purchased at City Hall and the city’s tow lot or online in increments from $5 to $100. Unlike the MBTA’s CharlieCard, the Boston Meter Card will not be reloadable from home, though officials said they hope to add that feature. Menino’s administration is also in talks with a major retailer to make the cards available in stores."
And extra bonus for the city, they get to collect interest on your money before you actually park.
I wonder if this means you can park for longer? Harvard Square has some new credit card meters but it's still a three (two?) hour limit. I got back literally one minute late and had a ticket on my car. I think that since the meters must be connected to a network to process the credit card, they also have a sensor that knows when a car pulls away and informs the parking cop walking around the minute you're over. If anyone knows for sure if this is true or not, please let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment