SCRANTON, Pa. -- The way you pay for parking has started to change in downtown Scranton. The company that manages the parking meters is transitioning to parking kiosks.
For David Eisenberg, the new parking kiosks just outside his apartment building on Franklin Avenue were a welcome surprise.
"I like the new parking system a lot. I think it`s pretty cool. I was surprised that Scranton got what Philly and New York has. I think it makes it a lot easier. I`ve gotten many a ticket in my day, so I think this is going to help improve the process a little bit," Eisenberg said.
The kiosks cover the lot outside PA CareerLink's offices on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Spruce Street. They're the first kiosks installed by ABM Parking, the company that runs the city's parking meters and garages. The kiosks replace individual parking meters.
Parkers will need to enter their license plate number into the kiosk then pay with either a credit card or coins. The machine prints out a ticket but, you`re not required to put it on your dashboard.
"The best part is, let`s say you pay for parking for two hours [and] you've got to run an errand real quick. You come back [and] you can park in any spot because you`ve already paid for the parking which is nice. As opposed to last time, you had to park in the same spot," Eisenberg added.
Parkers we talked to say the kiosks are easy to use, similar to systems seen in bigger cities.
"I`m used to it because I come from New York. So, it wouldn`t be a big deal for me but I`m thinking about others, too," said Jezabel Rodriguez of Scranton.
Rodriguez told Newswatch 16 she hopes metered parking spots will still be available, an age-old system that everyone is used to.
"People are going to start getting a lot of tickets because it will take them some time to learn, it`s going to make it chaos!" Rodriguez added.
You will start to see the kiosks popping up around the downtown area this year. ABM Parking was not able to tell Newswatch 16 whether they would replace all the meters downtown or how long the project will take.