New Parking System Installed in Downtown Rochester

The City of Rochester has gotten rid of traditional parking meters along a stretch of 1st avenue southwest.

The parking meters for the 72 diagonal parking spaces in the 400 and 500 block of 1st avenue in downtown Rochester have been replaced with the city’s first “Pay by Space” system that uses kiosks to collect payments for parking in the 30 minute, 90 minute, 3 hour and 10 hour spaces.

City officials say the kiosks currently accept coins and credit cards, but will eventually be equipped to accept payments from cell phones and other mobile devices.

The old parking meters have been replaced with color coded signs with the number of the parking space and the enforced time limit. A person parking in a space will need to go to the nearest kiosk and enter the number of the space, the amount of time needed, and whether they’re using coins or a credit card.

The new system will be operational on Monday morning.