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Solar-powered, digital parking kiosks prove successful in Cocoa Beach, Florida; GPS-based coupons coming

April 7, 2017

Fifty solar-powered digital parking kiosks along the Cocoa Beach, Florida beachfront brought in more than $234,000 in revenue during their first five weeks of operation, and city officials are pleased with the program's early results, according to Florida Today. The city is planning to offer GPS-based coupons via a parking app.

"This thing, if I may say so, is really the cat’s meow," Assistant City Manager Charles Holland said. "It’s going well."

Cocoa Beach officials installed the kiosks during a four-phase rollout plan, replacing roughly 860 parking meters that were scrapped. The first kiosks went online Feb. 15. Through Wednesday, more than 15,600 motorists used the kiosks, and violators received just more than 1,300 citations, city records show.

Rather than plunk coins into a parking meter, drivers now pull into a numbered parking spot and pay at a nearby electronic kiosk. Parking costs remain unchanged at $2 per hour and $10 per day at some lots, such as City Hall.

The paperless kiosks accept credit and debit cards, coins, PayPal and phone app payments.

The phone app features countdown timer reminder notifications, and users can extend parking times remotely. What's more, city officials will partner with Cocoa Beach Main Street to offer GPS-based coupons on the app. This feature may debut in three or four months, Holland said.

The parking system is managed by Passport, whose clients include Chicago, Detroit, Boston, the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and a variety of other cities nationwide. Passport collects administrative fees of $3 per parking ticket and 20 cents per mobile transaction.