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Toledo swaps parking kiosks for coins

The city of Toledo is downgrading several of its parking kiosks to conventional parking meters, due to cold temperatures affecting performance and high cost.

August 24, 2015

The city of Toledo is downgrading several of its parking kiosks to conventional parking meters, according to a report by The Blade. These kiosks, known as Smart Meters, have been located at Constitution Avenue in Toledo for seven years.

According to Dan Fortinberry, vice president of the Downtown Toledo Parking Authority, these kiosks are being replaced because of their inability to handle cold temperatures and due to driver complaints. "They were 10 years old, and they were not rated for our cold," Fortinberry said.Many drivers complained since they had to remember to leave receipts in their car dashboards.

In addition, it would have cost the parking authority $50,000 to order additional parking kiosk, so the authority simply reinstalled the coin operated meters it had in stock. Fortinberry argued that parking agencies are leaning more towards meters that accept credit cards rather than display kiosks. "People are getting away from pay-and-display," Fortinberry said.