CLEVELAND – The city of Cleveland announced this week that it is improving parking in the Ohio City neighborhood.
The city plans to replace coin-operated parking meters with digital parking meters. The change follows a decision made last year when the city selected companies ParkMobile and Flowbird as suppliers to modernize the street parking system across the city.
The city then sought to identify neighborhoods that already had coin-operated machines and that were experiencing increasing business growth, which in turn led to increased demand for parking on major streets. The Ohio City neighborhood met both criteria, the city said.
The installation of the ParkMobile parking meters takes place in three phases:
Phase 1: Main commercial
Over the next four weeks, coin machines in the W. 25th Street and Loraine Avenue business districts will be replaced with ParkMobile machines. The city said there will be no changes to enforcement during this process, meaning anyone committing parking violations will still be cited and fined.
Phase 2: Select advertising
After Phase 1, the city will then expand metered parking zones along portions of Lorain Avenue, W. 25th Street and other streets where timed parking is in effect. This phase will last approximately two to three weeks. Enforcement in these areas will be paused to allow people to get used to the changes.
Phase 3: Select mixed use
The next phase will move ParkMobile spaces to mixed-use areas that currently do not have parking meters — this includes Detroit Avenue, Fulton Road, Church Avenue, Bridge Avenue and W. 28th Street. This phase is expected to last two to three weeks, and enforcement will also be suspended.
“Beyond this initial implementation, the ParkMobile system will provide the City with the ability to examine usage patterns and enforcement trends and analyze other metrics to make data-driven decisions for future on-street parking management adjustments,” the city said in a news release. “The system will enable the City to more effectively manage on-street parking by providing the ability to align paid parking hours with evening and weekend business hours and adjust parking rates based on demand – achieving the program goal of providing convenient and available on-street parking.”
For more information, visit the city’s website.
The city has also provided the following instructions to help people use the ParkMobile parking meters:
- “Look for a green and black ParkMobile sign (or a sticker on one of the old parking meters) to find the parking zone number.
- The technology uses multiple payment options to accommodate different needs:
- Mobile App: Download the ParkMobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Create an account with an email address and password, or checkout as a guest. Enter the zone number, select the desired parking duration, add your vehicle(s), and choose your payment method. Then click “Start Parking” to begin the session.
- Online: Access the web version by scanning the QR code on the sign or sticker or by visiting https://parkmobile.io/ and follow the same instructions as in the app.
- Text: Send an SMS with the text “Parking” to 77223 and follow the instructions received.
- Call: Dial (877)-727-5009 to make a payment by phone.”
