Answer Woman: Are some downtown Asheville parking meters being replaced? What's the cost?

Sarah Honosky, Asheville Citizen Times
·4 min read
A close view of the MacKay logo on a Broadway Street parking meter in downtown Asheville.
A close view of the MacKay logo on a Broadway Street parking meter in downtown Asheville.

ASHEVILLE - Today's burning question is about downtown's parking meters, and if certain models are being phased out. Got a question for Answer Man or Answer Woman? Email Interim Executive Editor Karen Chávez at KChavez@citizentimes.com and your question could appear in an upcoming column.

Question: We moved to Asheville six years ago, having fallen in love with it years before that. We come to downtown Asheville often for all the great things it has to offer. We especially appreciated the state-of-the-art Passport parking meters that you could manage by an app on your phone.

How helpful and efficient to no longer find yourself rummaging for coins or running into a store for change for the old-fashioned coin meter. The new Passport meters also had a fabulous feature; you could check your time left from wherever you might be roaming or dining downtown. ... These meters were not very old, so imagine the surprise to find they had been replaced in at least parts of downtown. The new meters do offer credit card payment, however, gone are those features that allow you to monitor or extend your time.

So my question is - why?  Why remove relatively new meters and replace them with ones that move the technology backwards?  And - will the Passport meters be replaced everywhere?

Answer: Though the original parking meters, IPS Group meters, of which the reader is so fond, were only installed in 2018, the reader is right: IPS meters are being slowly phased out and replaced by newer MacKay meters.

"The reason behind this comes down to cost and functionality," said city spokesperson Kim Miller, who relayed information from the parking services division to the Citizen Times in March.

"The IPS meters did not provide our customers with reliable service due to battery life. Replacing the batteries throughout the system would prove more expensive than investing in the new, upgraded technology.  Most importantly, however, is that while your reader did not experience meter failure (and we are very happy to read that) too many customers experienced meter failure to justify maintaining the system."

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An IPS Group meter on O'Henry Avenue in downtown Asheville.
An IPS Group meter on O'Henry Avenue in downtown Asheville.

However, Miller noted, all of the new parking meters still include the option to pay via coins, debit or credit cards, and the Passport Parking app. Instructions for paying via the app are now located on the back of the meter, opposite the screen side.

"The location of that information was changed so that vehicle drivers could see the information while sitting in their cars and not have to brave the elements while paying to park," Miller said.

Parking meters have a two-hour time limit, and the going rate is $1.50 per hour. Metered parking is free on Sundays. Longer term parking is available in parking lots and garages.

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How many new meters are there downtown?

You might recognize IPS meters as the slightly-weathered, boxy, steel-gray contraptions, versus the black, cylindrical MacKay meters. One MacKay meter can serve two spaces, while ISP meters can only serve one space at a time, and have to be affixed to a pole with a "yoke" that separates them to serve two spots.

Two IPS Group meters affixed to a pole with a "yoke" on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville.
Two IPS Group meters affixed to a pole with a "yoke" on Haywood Street in downtown Asheville.

Of the 751 metered spaces downtown, 311 cover two parking spaces and 129 cover a single parking space — 97 of the meters currently on the street are the new MacKay meters.

Purchase cost-to-date for the replacements is $93,548.

Full streets with MacKay meters include Biltmore Avenue, Aston Street, Broadway Street, Pack Square, East College Street and Court Plaza.

Two additional streets will be changed to MacKay as soon as meters are received: North Lexington and South Lexington avenues.

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How much revenue do meters bring in for the city?

While on the topic, the Citizen Times asked Miller and parking division staff how much money these 700-plus meters rake in.

Pre-COVID, the city collected about $1.7 million annually in revenue from parking meters. At the onset of COVID, the revenue dropped to around $1.4 million annually. Since fiscal year 2022, revenues have started to rebound and so far this year, meters have generated $1.3 million.

A MacKay meter on Broadway Street in downtown Asheville.
A MacKay meter on Broadway Street in downtown Asheville.

Meter revenue:

  • FY 2019: $1.7 million

  • FY 2020: $1.4 million

  • FY 2021: $1.4 million

  • FY 2022: $1.6 million

  • FY 2023 (year to date): $1.3 million

Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Answer Woman: Downtown Asheville parking meters being replaced?