City to Implement Smart Card Payment System for Metered Parking

While looking for parking may still be difficult, paying for that much sought after spot is getting easier. 

Residents and visitors will soon be able to pay for metered parking with a smart card.

The smart cards could be implemented in about a month, said Transportation and Parking Director Ian Sacs on Tuesday. The smart card is a pre-paid card that can be retrieved—as well as re-charged—at the Hoboken Parking Utility. 

The multi meters that have replaced the single spot meters around town are already pre-programmed for the smart cards, Sacs said. Implementing the measure will therefore be easy, Sacs added.

Sacs said also that it will be "beneficial for anyone who parks at a metered spot."

In the early stages, cards will have to be re-filled at the Parking Utility in the basement of City Hall. Eventually, though, people will be able to re-charge their smart cards online, Sacs said. 

The 960 single space meters in town have all been replaced by multi meters, Sacs said. There are roughly 140 multi meters in town. 

The cost of implementing the smart cards will be "nominal," Sacs said.