By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Lilly Hinebaugh stood in front of the parking kiosk, reading the instructions.
“Oh my God,” she said in response to the command that she enter her license plate number on the digital pad. So she sent her friend back to the car. “Can you go over and yell it to me?”
“This is annoying,” said Hinebaugh, a BGSU student from Huron.
She wasn’t alone. Monday was the first day that the new parking kiosks were in operation in the city parking lots behind the first block of South Main Street, on the east side. Three kiosks have taken the place of the individual parking meters, and require the motorists to punch in their license plate numbers as they pay.
Rebeca Olivarez also was caught off guard. “I didn’t know my number. I had to go back. It was kind of a hassle,” she said. “It was easier to use a meter.”
However, Olivarez said she liked the option of using a credit card with the kiosk. “That’s good if you don’t have change.”
And she realized that like anything different, it takes time to get accustomed to it. “It’s just new,” she said.
The three kiosks are located behind SamB’s restaurant, at the parking entrance on East Wooster Street, and near the parking entrance on Clough Street. Large electronic signs have been erected in the lot now to notify people of the changes.
That didn’t help Traci Rodgers, one of the drivers unlucky enough to end up with a ticket on her car.
“I didn’t know I had to pay,” she said, as she walked around the lot with the yellow ticket that will cost her $5. “It’s crazy. This is a big pain in the butt.”
Bowling Green parking technician Jamie Cook spent most of her morning Monday walking people through the kiosk system.
“It’s the questions we get all the time about parking,” she said. “Trust me, it’s a learning curve.”
Motorists are pleased about a couple features of the system, Cook said. “People are very thankful they take credit cards,” she said.
And if drivers input their cell phone number, they will be texted 10 minutes prior to their time expiring. They can then renew their parking time on their smart phones.
The city’s parking technicians will still patrol the parking lots, but now they will carry hand-held devices that will tell them which cars have expired time.
City officials spent time in the parking lot this afternoon, and have plans to change a couple prompts on the kiosk for tomorrow, said Assistant Municipal Administrator Joe Fawcett.
“We’re asking people to remain patient,” Fawcett said. “It’s going to be a learning process for all of us.”
Bowling Green officials chose between three types of parking payment kiosks – pay by display, space or plate.
The pay by display kiosks require motorists to return to their vehicles to place tickets on their dashboards. That is the type used at Bowling Green State University. The pay by space would require the drivers to see the parking space numbers, which may be difficult in the winter.
The pay by plate – chosen by the city – requires the driver to punch in their license plate number. The rates and time limits for the lots won’t change.
Younger motorists accustomed to parking kiosks took the change in stride. Steve Harlan, who works at BGSU, had no problem figuring out the system.
“It’s not too bad. They just put a bunch in on campus,” Harlan said. “They’re pretty simple.”
According to the city, the benefits of changing over to kiosks include:
- Replacement parts are more difficult to find and are becoming more expensive for the outdated parking meters.
- Increased efficiency to clear the parking lot following snow storms.
- Reduced maintenance for special events such as the Black Swamp Arts Festival.
- Reduced maintenance costs associated with parking blocks, meter poles and meters.
- Keep newly repaved parking lot intact.
The three kiosks cost the city $37,000.
According to Fawcett, this parking lot is just the first of six lots where city officials would like to change meters to kiosks. The city lots will be changed over as they need repaving. The next in line is the parking lot behind the Clazel.
