TIME TO PAY
Trenton looks to spend $1.2M on new parking meter system
TRENTON » The days of looking for a broken meter to secure free parking in the capital city may soon be coming to an end.
Trenton council introduced two ordinances last Thursday that would set aside $1.2 million to buy and install new parking meters in Trenton.
Currently, only 70 percent of the city’s 990 meters are functional, Trenton officials said this week. The outdated meters also only accept coins.
“We know that there’s about six or seven companies out there that have indicated an interest,” Trenton Business Administrator Terry McEwen said Monday. “We would hope that we’d get meters that are very technology savvy so they’d be able to take coin, credit card and app.”
Revenue
Last year, 22,115 parking tickets were issued in Trenton. At $70-a-pop for a parking meter ticket, that means the city brought in more than $1.5 million in revenue.
In total from the city’s parking system, which includes six surface lots and the tickets, the city received over $3.8 million in revenue, with $2.5 million of that amount designated back to the city’s general fund, officials said.
McEwen told council at last week’s meeting that the city anticipates $2 million in revenue from the new parking meter system.
It is still up in the air if the city will copy Philadelphia with parking meter kiosks to get rid of the standalone meters lining downtown streets.
“We’ll be looking at all of those issues once we find out how much funding we have,” the business administrator said. “The city is going to look at an assessment of what needs to be done.”
After funding is secure, the city will ask for request for proposals (RFP) in September if the bond ordinances are approved, McEwen said.
Though McEwen was being coy as to when the new meters will be put in place except to say “as soon as possible,” the city stated in proposal documents that a system live date should be 60 days from the award of a contract.
End of Abuse
According to a downtown parking management plan that was completed in January by an outside vendor for the city, Trenton must address the misuse of handicapped parking placards, the broken meters and reduced enforcement. All contribute to the lack of short-term parking in Trenton due to the fact that the spots are used all day.
The plan — completed by Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates — recommended disallowing curbside parking before 10 a.m. to tackle the ADA-placard misuse, which was the same advice provided from a 2008 study that the city never followed. Much of the problem, the study outlines, is that short-term parking is “largely used for daylong parking.”
Commercial loading zones would be allowed in the mornings, such as in Philadelphia, to recapture the vital short-term parking that is hogged by handicapped-placard abusers, the study found.
The study said the city should seek a target of roughly 15 percent availability for parking throughout the day.
The high-traffic areas identified in the plan were on West State Street, East
State Street, East Front Street, William Trent Place, Cooper Street, North Willow Street and West Hanover Street.
Areas like Perry Street are lined with meters but aren’t utilized as much since it’s a residential area.
Asked if the city will remove meters in some areas, McEwen said, “We’ll look at where meters are needed and we’ll take all that into consideration.”
Other ideas floated in the city include the city implementing incremental fines and lengthening the hours of enforcement until 8 p.m.
For the fines, a first-time violation in any 12-month period will get a pass. A second violation within 12 months would be fined at the regular rate, with violations perhaps doubling each subsequent time, the study says.
‘You’re Going to Start Getting Tickets’
In October, Mayor Eric Jackson said at his State of the City address that the upgrades will mean, “You’re going to start getting tickets.”
The city currently has four parking enforcement officers on staff, but it has had less in the past.
The lack of enforcement has been the butt of many jokes in the past, with some people acting like they’ve seen a unicorn if they receive a parking ticket on their windshield. The same can’t be said if one travels to Philadelphia and misses feeding the meter machine when it expires: a parking ticket is all but guaranteed.
“I see parking meter folks out who are enforcing the parking rules every day,” city spokesman Michael Walker said Monday, noting they patrol downtown, the State Street area, Mill Hill, and other sections of the city. “Trenton and Philly and New York and Baltimore are very different cities.”
Additionally, Walker said city police issue parking tickets.
Though the new system is expected to be a cash cow for Trenton, Walker said it isn’t all about the revenue.
“A parking system is not just all about enforcement,” Walker said. “What we are looking to do is to create convenience for residents and visitors who enjoy this city.”