News

Parking kiosks quirky in Chicago neighborhood

August 27, 2003

HIGHLAND PARK, Ill. -- Some commuters in this Chicago neighborhood have found the new electronic parking kiosks installed in lots at local train stations to be frustrating and confusing.

According to a report in the Pioneer Press Online, commuter Paul Canchester purchased a low-cost debit card to use in the new system. When he inserted his $50 card into the machine to record his use of a space, he was told he still had $1055.25 worth of value.

That's been just one problem that Canchester and other commuters have endured, the story said. Even the mayor and a city council member have admitted to having some problems with the new system.

City officials rolled out a new parking fee collection system in four city lots this summer, all of them near train stations, and they describe the results as satisfactory.

Parking meters were removed and commuters now pay for parking at an electronic kiosk near the station where a receipt is provided. Payment can be made with dollars or coins or the commuter may purchase a debit card. With the new system, drivers must enter the number of the space in which they parked.

The debit card allows a driver to pay without having to use six quarters. Plus, parking costs $1 with the debit card and $1.50 with coins, so there's a financial incentive to use the card.

But one complaint is with the kiosk itself. People rushing to the station to park and catch a train do not want to line up to put money in a device and wait for a receipt, Canchester said in the story. If there is a line as the train is coming into the station, he said, the delay in line can cause much anxiety.

He said his frustrations with the new system emerge from poor implementation, confusing signs and instructions and problems with electronic payment.

Public Works Director Mary Anderson said, "With any new technology, there is a learning curve," she said. "I don't think people are avoiding the lots."