While most days I walk to work from my apartment along Front Street, occasionally I will need my car for a duty at TheBurg—be it delivering newspapers, conducting an interview off-site, or I’ll need to leave the bounds of the city after a good day’s work. This requires me to scrounge up every last quarter in my apartment, in my car’s cup holders and cushions and my plastic bag piggy bank full of every coin imaginable.
In Asbury Park, N.J., this past weekend, my hunt was delightfully cut short by a dual credit card/coin parking meter system. A simple touchscreen took me through the process, charging me a dollar per hour. I loaded my parking allowance with three hours, a solid amount of time to peruse the beach and its retail district. In Harrisburg, that would have required $4.50 or 18 quarters, a sufficient bump in price and hassle.
Back home, after delivering a fresh batch of “Burgs” to our distribution locations today, I pulled into a spot on State Street. Much to my surprise, I saw a retirement party for the old pay stations, marked by a bag over top of them, and new, gleaming ones next to them. Finally, I thought, a move toward the 21st century. As I approached the new money-eating totem, I saw what appeared to be a credit card slot, but alas, a written notice at the bottom: “Meter Accepts Quarters and Cashkeys Only.”
“What the heck is a cash key?” I thought to myself.
No quarters on my person, I returned to the office to investigate this newfangled key system, hoping it was innovative and perhaps useful. Nope.
A cash key is like a food card at universities or colleges. You mail in a form with a deposit of $15, plus the dollar amount you personally allot, on said key. Each time you pull into the space, you insert the key and go on your “merry” way. Except, in reality, there’s lots of problems with this turnkey system.
One, it’s entirely too bureaucratic. You have to fill out an order form and then mail it to the Harrisburg Parking Authority (back to them later). JC Penney catalogs were very successful until the Internet. Get it?
Two, it’s not helpful for the tourist or occasional daily commuter. Imagine carrying around a day’s worth of quarters. Maybe you’ve done it.
Lastly, it’s very parochial, creating a town-centric mentality that is and will continue plaguing our reputation in the area. By not providing an efficient and modern parking system, you risk moderately peeving off the general public, especially if quarters aren’t available, and they end up with a parking ticket. It’s the little things that add up, like say, potholes.
According to the Huffington Post’s article from June 7, 2012, “plastic card purchases comprised 66 percent of all in-person sales.” This is probably not a shocking figure, given that we are in a world where tangible money is fast becoming a non-entity.
As I researched these futurist “credit-card swiping creations,” it seems as though many municipalities and cities are in the process of installing or testing out these machines for wholesale replacement. Cities like Los Angeles have installed 38,000 meters, whereas smaller municipalities like Beaufort and Hilton Head, S.C., are trying them out for size. A glut of others followed this initial research: Durango, Colo., Dayton, Ohio, Sacramento, Calif., Hoboken, N.J., have all committed or installed smart meters, and our very own neighbor, York, Pa., is putting together a proposal for the new systems.
I called HPA, but the person charged with overseeing this changeover from the old to the well, old, was on vacation. What I hope is that I’m wrong, and these new machines will have an easy retrofit for credit cards.
But, for now, quarters are still king in the city of Harrisburg, people.
