LITTLE ROCK — When Little Rock starts charging for parking in the River Market, there’s a good possibility people will plug their coins or debit cards into solar pay stations installed throughout the entertainment district.
The capital city put out a bid Thursday for eight solar pay stations that can accept coins or electronic payments for the 114 spaces lining President Clinton Avenue and nearby side streets.
“This is kind of the trend that’s going,” Assistant City Manager Bryan Day said about the solar kiosks. “This is a smaller area that we’re looking at, so it’s a better place to try it.”
In February, city officials announced plans to charge for on-street parking in the River Market as a way to turn over spaces more often, as well as raise money for new lighting, security and other improvements in the district.
A decision was made not to install parking meters in the River Market District when the Ottenheimer Market Hall opened in 1996 because downtown boosters wanted to make the district as accessible as possible for visitors. Instead, signs scattered around the district inform drivers that parking is limited to two hours, although that is rarely enforced.
In the years since the River Market’s opening, city officials say, the free parking spaces are too often taken by workers in the district. Officials now think that charging for the spaces would help turn over parking, as well as finance improvements.
City officials have estimated that the new paid parking could raise as much as $45,000 a year. Revenue from the city’s 1,320 existing meters - which amounted to $523,005 last year - is used to pay off bond debt for the district’s parking deck.
Over the summer, city officials attended a conference where dozens of vendors showed off their wares. The city chose to seek out the solar-panel stations that other cities are also turning to.
Under such systems, people can pay at any station for time on their parking spots and sometimes are issued receipts to display on their vehicles’ dashboards. And rather than having to collect money out of individual parking meters, using stations will give the city fewer places from which to collect fees.
Tampa, Fla., recently installed 146 such stations throughout its downtown, and Salt Lake City rolled out 50 stations last month as partof a test on whether it would be more convenient for users and the city.
San Francisco, which has hundreds of pay stations, even has a smart-phone application to guide people to empty spots.
Little Rock’s proposal for bids, which are due Dec. 15, includes a request for allowing “smart card” payment in addition to coins and debit and credit.
The city doesn’t know how much the new stations will ultimately cost but expects to receive help from the Advertising and Promotion Commission to fund the purchase. The tourism agency would be repaid with some of the first revenue.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 11/18/2011