PPA expands “pay-by-plate” parking kiosks

On Tuesday, Philadelphia Parking Authority (PPA) Executive Director, Scott Petri, announced that the PPA is planning to install the new solar-powered “pay-by-plate” parking kiosks citywide.

ABC reported that the original machines were installed in Center City during Oct. 2019. The pilot zone was between Arch and Race street, which is between 4th and 12th street.

It was reported the PPA will start installing them in University City.

The goal of the project is to replace the stand-alone coin-operated parking meters.

According to Philapark.org, here are some benefits of the new machines:

• Citizens do not need to display their parking receipt on dashboard
• Citizens have the ability to use any kiosk, as long as they have the zone number they are parked in
• Kiosk has a full-color touch screen
• Citizens have the ability to choose if they want to print their receipt, have the receipt texted to their mobile device, or not print a receipt

In a release, Petri said that “New pay-by-plate kiosk customers will be required to enter their license plate number along with the parking zone number and then select a preferred payment option, either coin, credit or debit card. PPA enforcement officers will verify customer payment by electronically scanning each license plate to verify payment.”

Petri added that “Customers must correctly enter their license plate number and will no longer be required to print a receipt from the kiosk that they were previously required to place on their vehicle’s dashboard — but they can still choose to print a receipt, or receive one via text message.”

Petri continued saying that, “The key to our new kiosks is remembering your license plate number. Your license plate number is the basis for our new on-street parking operation.”

It was reported that the project should be completed by the end of the summer.

By the end of this project, it is expected that the city will have 2,000 new pay-by-plate parking kiosks installed.

As the city makes the transition, both types of kiosks and stand-alone coin meters will be available to use throughout the city.