ORLANDO, Fla. — The days of feeding quarters into a parking meter in downtown Orlando are coming to an end.
The City of Orlando began removing parking meter heads this week as part of a plan to eliminate all of the roughly 1,000 meters in the downtown area by October 1. Drivers will instead pay through the ParkMobile app, by text, or by phone call.
The first phase of removals started in the SODO and Orlando Health area, where about 170 meters are coming down. The city will then move to the area south of Lake Eola between Rosalind Avenue and Summerlin Avenue before expanding to the rest of downtown.
Maria Cortes, a parking planner for the City of Orlando, said the change is part of a larger effort to modernize the city’s parking system and will save taxpayers money.
“It’s going to save us around half a million dollars annually,” Cortes said, pointing to meter maintenance costs, replacement parts that ship from across the country, and collection teams that empty coins from the meters twice a week.
In place of the meters, the city is installing signs with step-by-step instructions for paying. Enforcement officers will also hand out flyers in English and Spanish explaining the three payment options.
City officials say they know the transition may be difficult for drivers who are not comfortable with smartphones. Cortes said the city is using its own data to identify areas with the lowest ParkMobile usage and plans to send staff to those neighborhoods to teach drivers how to use the app one-on-one. Drivers can also visit the parking division office for help downloading and setting up the app.
The city says enforcement officers will initially hand out warnings rather than tickets to drivers caught off guard by the change.
Some drivers are still not sold on the switch. Jasmine Hunt, who paid for parking downtown with quarters, said she understands the move but prefers the old way.
“I feel like paying with coins is faster,” Hunt said. “Some people don’t know how to work it.”
The city is also warning drivers about a potential scam. None of the new parking signs use QR codes, after fraudulent stickers directing people to fake payment sites were found on city meters about a year ago. Officials say any QR code found on an Orlando parking sign or meter should not be scanned.
Parking rates, hours and time limits will not change this summer. On-street parking remains $1 per hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free parking evenings and Sundays. Rates are set to increase at the end of the year as part of the city’s broader modernization plan, which will also extend enforcement hours.
Drivers can still get two hours of free parking downtown through the ParkDTO promo code in the ParkMobile app, a partnership with the Downtown CRA that offers about 60 free sessions per user.
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