City of Urbana Parking Deck Transitions to MobileMeter

The City of Urbana parking deck located at 111 West Main Street in downtown Urbana will transition from a staffed parking deck to parking meters and MobileMeter beginning on Monday, December 4, 2017. MobileMeter is an app that gives drivers a credit card option directly from their smart phone or tablet. Users can also keep track of available time, receive reminder notifications before the end of their parking session, and extend parking time remotely. MobileMeter was first launched in the area in 2015 in the City of Champaign and then in Urbana in February 2016.

“The quick adoption of the MobileMeter app has exceeded expectations,” according to Urbana’s Public Facilities Manager Vince Gustafson. “Currently over fifty percent of all parking meters fees are being paid by customers using the new technology.”

Urbana’s parking deck has been a staffed parking deck since its creation in the early 1980s. The new format for parking enforcement means there will no longer be a staffed ticket booth, however, the City will retain a parking attendant to tend to the deck maintenance and assist drivers with the transition from tickets to parking meters and MobileMeter.

The City of Urbana’s Public Works Department will install 34 meters in the center aisles of the first and second floors of the parking deck. The remaining 162 spaces will be assigned as MobileMeter parking spaces. There will be no changes to the reserved spaces and the rate for parking will continue through this fiscal year. The current parking deck rate is $0.25 per hour for the first two hours and $0.50 each hour afterward with an 11 hour maximum from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

“MobileMeter implementation will allow the City to greatly reduce operating costs while continuing to provide readily available, cost effective, and convenient off-street parking for residents, employees, and visitors to downtown Urbana,” noted Gustafson.