It may be time to get a bike or even a Segway if you’re looking to park for cheap in Center City. That’s because the cost for a meter is going up.
The Philadelphia Parking Authority is raising rates at parking meters in the heart of the city from $1 an hour to $2 an hour. The changes will be made by the end of the week.
Then in July, the price will jump from $2 to $3. Good luck trying to find $3 in quarters to feed the meter!
Could this be a ruse to get you to buy one of those nifty reloadable smart cards so the city can save costs by going changeless?
Not so says a rep for the parking authority.
“We want to relieve that congestion…its supply and demand. If we raise the rates, we’re hoping to free up many parking spaces so people can come in and then our business can thrive,” Vince Fenerty of the parking authority said.
Rates are also going up in University City. The price will go from $1 to a $1.50. Then, next year it will go up to $2 an hour.
People are bound to be peeved over the price hike, but even at the $3 an hour mark, the cost per hour is still less than half than what you would pay at most Center City parking garages. The cheapest we could find was $6.50 an hour at 15th and Pine.
