New “smart” parking meters are going up in downtown Denver, which will allow patrons to pay with credit and debit cards as well as the traditional coins.
Denver Public Works, which is overseeing a six-month pilot program, showed off the new gadgets Thursday. The agency will start installing the 120 parking meters in a 10-block area of downtown Monday. The meters should be running by Wednesday.
The meters will have a digital display screen, which will show messages that can warn a driver when parking is free and reject payment. Similarly, the meters can warn when no parking is allowed, for instance on a street sweeping day, saving a driver a citation.
IPS Group Inc., a San Diego firm that makes the meters, is letting the city use them free for six months. The city will survey attitudes about the meters and consider whether to install them permanently at the conclusion of the six months.
