City of Detroit Installs Credit Card-Enabled Parking Meters
By Liz Morris
Citizens of Detroit are going to have a new option when they pay for parking. Over 1,000 traditional parking meters have been torn out from the city’s streets, replaced by 175 multi-space meters that accept credit cards as well as cash. While credit card-enabled parking meters have debuted previously in a few other cities—most notably Las Vegas—Detroit’s installation represents one of the largest in the United States.
The meters are being installed through a partnership between hardware provider Duncan Solutions, and payment transactions company Peppercoin. The companies estimate that 300,000 credit and debit card transactions will take place in the first year of the meters’ deployment in Detroit.
Peppercoin recently commissioned a survey which found that 9% of respondents had used credit card-enabled parking meters, but that 28% said they would if given the opportunity. According to Peppercoin, the disparity between the two numbers means there are 38 million Americans who today do not have access to card-enabled meters that would use them if they were available.