Proposed changes to on-street parking in downtown Oklahoma City will standardize time limits and add more convenient ways to pay for your space.
The changes, introduced during Tuesday’s Oklahoma City Council meeting and set for a public hearing Aug. 15 and vote Aug. 29, would let drivers simply enter their license plate number when making a payment and impose the same time limit on every on-street, metered space downtown.
Each metered space would have a two-hour time limit, simplifying the various limits currently in force around downtown. The new rate for on-street parking would be $2 per hour.
Multi-space pay stations will be modified to with keyboards to accept license plate information, and they’ll be distributed more broadly throughout downtown and Bricktown. The stations will accept coins and debit or credit cards, replacing stations and meters that only accept one or the other. That brings added convenience to nearly all areas with metered parking.
The new pay-by-plate system eliminates the current step requiring customers to place a receipt and sticker on their windshield after walking to the meter to make a payment.
The new pay stations also have the potential to communicate with smartphones for payment with possible technology upgrades.
Other changes proposed Tuesday include the addition of dedicated parking spaces for electric vehicles, allowing pedicabs and human-powered vehicles to use on-street spaces, clarify exemptions for people with physical disabilities, clarify usage of metered spaces by taxicabs and adding an administrative fee for vehicles impounded due to arrest.
Public parking in Oklahoma City is operated by the Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority.