CLEVELAND — The Ohio City neighborhood is getting a parking upgrade, the City of Cleveland announced this week. 

What You Need To Know

  • The city aims to start replacing coin-operated meters with digital meters instead

  • The digital meters will roll out in three phases, and for some areas, parking enforcement will continue

  • The switch stems from a decision last year, when the city picked the companies ParkMobile and Flowbird as vendors to help upgrade the street parking system throughout the city. 

The city aims to start replacing coin-operated meters with digital meters instead. The switch stems from a decision last year, when the city picked the companies ParkMobile and Flowbird as vendors to help upgrade the street parking system throughout the city. 

The city then tried to identify neighborhoods that had existing coin-operated meters and increased business growth, which led to high street parking demand. The Ohio City neighborhood hit both of those markers, the city said. 

The installation of ParkMobile meters will happen in three phases: 

Phase 1: Main commercial

Over the next four weeks, coin-operated meters in the W. 25th Street and Loraine Avenue commercial corridors will be replaced with the ParkMobile meters. The city said there will be no change in enforcement during this process, meaning anyone who commits parking violations will still be cited and fined. 

Phase 2: Select commercial

After phase 1, the city will then extend paid street parking zones along parts of Lorain Avenue, W. 25th Street and other streets where time-limited parking sessions exist. This phase will take around two to three weeks. Enforcement in these areas will be paused to allow time for people to get acclimated to the changes. 

Phase 3: Select mixed-use

The next phase will place the ParkMobile areas in mixed-use areas where meters currently don't exist — this includes Detroit Avenue, Fulton Road, Church Avenue, Bridge Avenue and W. 28th Street. This phase is expected to take two to three weeks, and enforcement will be paused as well. 

"Beyond this initial implementation, the ParkMobile system will afford the City the opportunity to study utilization patterns, enforcement trends, and analyze other metrics to make data-driven decisions for future street parking management adjustments," the city said in a release. "The system will allow the city to more effectively manage on-street parking by providing the ability to adjust paid parking hours to better align with business hours in the evenings and on weekends, and to adjust parking rates based on demand – to achieve the program goal of providing convenient and available on-street parking."

More information can be found on the City’s website.

The city also provided these instructions to help people use the ParkMobile meters:

  1. "Look for a green and black ParkMobile sign (or sticker on one of the old meters) to locate the Parking Zone Number.
  2. The technology utilizes multiple payment options to accommodate a variety of capabilities:
    1. Mobile App: Download the ParkMobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Create an account with an email address and password or checkout as a guest.  Enter the Zone Number, select the amount of time you would like to park, add your vehicle(s), and choose your payment method. Then click “Start Parking” to begin session.
    2. Online: Access the web version by scanning the QR code on the sign or sticker or going to https://parkmobile.io/.  Follow the similar prompts as the app.
    3. Text: Text “Park to 77223 and follow the prompts received.
    4. Call: Dial (877)-727-5009 to make a payment over the phone."