FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The City of Fayetteville is making changes to the downtown parking to improve the payment process for residents and visitors.
The Downtown Business District will now have new and modernized payment methods. The 250 on-street parking meters have been replaced with “smart” meters. Residents will now have the option to pay via credit card, ParkMobile app, or with traditional coins.
The smart meters are equipped with sensor technology that identifies the exact moment a car is parked in a space. City officials say the sensors will allow grace periods, during which parking rates will not be required for downtown customers during shorter parking sessions.
“The sensors allow for a friendlier approach to parking enforcement,” said Justin Clay, parking management director for the City. “Also, it gives the ability to relay real-time parking availability via the mobile app.”
On-street meters are either short-term with a two-hour limit, or long-term with no time limit.
Here is the updated parking map.
Parking is still free around the Downtown Square and Gardens for no more than two hours in a four-hour period.
The five city-owned parking lots downtown had 275 single-space coin meters. They now feature pay stations for each lot that use a pay-by-license plate method.
The City says this transition allows the same grace period as the on-street sensors and allows City staff to enforce permits by license plate, removing the need and costs associated with physical permits.
Clays says accessibility will be improved by the removal of single-space meters along sidewalks that are adjacent to parking lots with the new meters.
The new equipment costs were covered with Resolution 6475 in 2021 that changed the on-street parking rates from 25 cents per hour to 50 cents per hour and surface lot rates from 15 cents per hour to 25 cents per hour.
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