Charleston looking to add new features to city parking meters

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The City of Charleston wants to add features and payment options to the more than 1,600 parking meters across the city.

Director of Traffic and Transportation Robert Somerville said there’s so much new technology out now, the city wants to put more features into the meters.

Somerville said they last upgraded their parking meters in 2016 when they started accepting credit cards. He said they want to upgrade them again, adding there are more apps available with different payment options and to help their department enforce parking.

2016′s upgrades cost the city more than $350,000. City leaders expect this new planned upgrade will cost them even more because of inflation but they do not have an exact amount yet.

Somerville said the city wants to make finding a parking spot and paying for it much quicker than it is now.

“Even the enforcement part of it -- there’s sensors that can be put on the meter to help tell when the space is vacant or not,” Somerville said. “With apps, it might help the motorist know where available parking is located, so there’s a lot involved with the parking meters itself.”

Somerville hopes to sign a contract with a vendor for the upgraded meters in November and get the project funded by the end of the year.

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