PHOENIX -
No change, no cash, no park? Not anymore. The city of Phoenix is converting 545 coin-operated parking meters to meters that also accept credit and debit cards.
Not only do the meters accept a new form of payment, but they are operated by solar power. Drivers will be able to differentiate between them and the traditional meters because the new ones will have a green band around the post, as well as Visa, MasterCard, AMEX and Discover logos.
In April, crews will convert even more coin-operated, single-space meters to pay stations that will serve an entire block of parking spaces. Those pay stations will accept both credit/debit cards and coins.
The meter rate and enforcement hours remain the same -- $1.50 per hour, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The new meters are mostly concentrated in the downtown area, but there will be some uptown and near Phoenix College.
The city has a total of 2,400 parking meters.
More info: phoenix.gov/streets/parkingmeters
