Ditching parking meters just a cash grab. Columbus leaving people on curb. |Opinion

Megan Hils
·3 min read
The City of Columbus has put signs on parking meters in some areas in Franklinton, including this one in front of the Idea Foundry, 421 W. State St., warning motorists that the meters will soon be removed. Motorists will have to pay for parking using kiosks like the one that has been installed to the right, as well as through mobile payments.
The City of Columbus has put signs on parking meters in some areas in Franklinton, including this one in front of the Idea Foundry, 421 W. State St., warning motorists that the meters will soon be removed. Motorists will have to pay for parking using kiosks like the one that has been installed to the right, as well as through mobile payments.

Megan Hils is a Columbus resident and community health worker. . She recently graduated from the Leadership for Social Change program with YWCA Columbus. 

The decision to remove parking meters throughout town seems to have been a decision driven only by profit.

It puts the more vulnerable members of our community at further disadvantage.

The ParkColumbus system already increased costs for users through minimum time requirements in app-only zones.

Now with the removal of the meters (but not the posts on which they were installed), individuals who do not have a smartphone or limited cell data have fewer options to pay for parking.

More: Time has expired for Columbus parking meters: Rest to be replaced with kiosks this spring

There is a number in tiny print on the parking zone signs; when I called that number, I found that it was possible to make an account and pay over the phone, but there may be a $5 charge for doing so.

Megan Hils is a Columbus resident who works in the field of community health. She served as an AmeriCorps volunteer and holds a B.A. in human rights studies from the University of Dayton and a Master of Public Health from Ohio State University. She recently graduated from the Leadership for Social Change program with YWCA Columbus.
Megan Hils is a Columbus resident who works in the field of community health. She served as an AmeriCorps volunteer and holds a B.A. in human rights studies from the University of Dayton and a Master of Public Health from Ohio State University. She recently graduated from the Leadership for Social Change program with YWCA Columbus.

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I don’t know if there is a fee or not because I was on hold for so long that I didn’t have time to wait to speak to a person to find out, and I have been unable to find this information on the city’s website.

More: Columbus replacing many parking meters with kiosks, mobile-app payment

App payments assume the person has a credit or debit card, which again, many members of our community do not have, especially those who are low-income or homeless.

Kiosks can accept cash payments; however, it seems that no one who would actually use them was asked for their input on where to put them.

One could look up the locations online, but that also assumes access to the internet.

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At the building where I work downtown, the nearest kiosk is over two blocks away.

This means that our clients who may have health or other mobility issues must park their car, locate the kiosk, walk to it, and make a payment, while hoping that meter enforcement does not stop by in the meantime.

Folks in this situation most likely can’t afford to keep their fingers crossed that they don’t receive a parking ticket while they work through this new system.

The remainder of parking meters in Columbus are expected to be replaced with kiosks soon. As shown on the sticker on this meter, drivers can pay for parking with an app. [Barbara J. Perenic/Dispatch]
The remainder of parking meters in Columbus are expected to be replaced with kiosks soon. As shown on the sticker on this meter, drivers can pay for parking with an app. [Barbara J. Perenic/Dispatch]

Beyond the above issues, there are many reasons someone may struggle with this parking system.

I recently reached the maximum time in a parking zone but was not allowed to start a new parking session in that same zone through the app, and needed to move my car.

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I would assume that business owners in the Short North prefer I spend my time consuming their goods and services instead of walking back to my car and circling blocks to find a new space.

I was able to, but it is not hard to imagine why it would be wholly unsafe for someone participating in traditional Short North weekend activities to move their car because they were not able to pay for more parking time, even through this much-lauded app.

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A pay-by-plate parking kiosk stands among more conventional parking meters on Park Street in 2020.
A pay-by-plate parking kiosk stands among more conventional parking meters on Park Street in 2020.

This system is not fair or equitable. Meter machines that accept cash and card payments located in proximity to your destination have worked for a very long time, and can be used by anyone who would need to park a car.

I hope the city is monitoring kiosk and app usage, alongside ticketing statistics to ensure this new system does not place an undue burden on parking meter users.

Accessible parking benefits us all. A privileged system that limits access does not.

Megan Hils is a Columbus resident and community health worker. . She recently graduated from the Leadership for Social Change program with YWCA Columbus. 

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Opinion: Replacing parking meters with kiosks driven by profit