Sea Isle Kiosk Parking Meters Confuse Some Drivers

SEA ISLE CITY- Like many other beach towns, the city has begun a program of replacing individual parking meters on each parking space with central station, kiosk meters.
The meters are electronic and can serve a number of parking spaces. Like most other towns that have introduced the newfangled meters, some drivers in Sea Isle City this summer were confused as how to put in their money the devices.
At a Tue.,Oct. 25 City Council meeting, Council President John Divney said some motorists seemed frustrated with the kiosk meters when they were not working properly.
Sea Isle City Police Captain Rosemary Milano said there were a few bumps in the road for the kiosk meters. She said while the meters were new for Sea Isle City, they were not unknown to drivers since they are used in Ocean City and other towns.
“One of the major complaints was not having receipts available when people put their money in,” said Milano.
She said reason the city did not purchase meters that print out a paper receipt was cost.
“For each kiosk, it would have been $4,000 more for just the kiosk itself,” said Milano. “The printers themselves are $1,500.”
The city purchased kiosk meters with a “green battery” so as not to incur a disposal cost for worn out batteries. Milano said had the city purchased kiosk meters that issued receipts, it would have incurred the cost of the printers, the paper and cutters.
“Another thing is we didn’t want little pieces of paper thrown all over the city” said Divney.
Milano said while some drivers were confused by a lack of a receipt, they did receive a record of their parking purchase when they used credit cards and it appeared on their monthly statement.
She said there were complaints of out-of-order kiosk meters in municipal court. Milano said she was able to confirm meter payments through a computer program.
If a driver is contesting a ticket for an expired meter, they must supply police with the last four numbers of the credit card they used in the kiosk meter.
Milano said she would work with the court to have a process in place to look up credit card payments on contested tickets.
Divney asked Milano if she would recommend adding more kiosk meters to the city. She said they had a nice appearance and the meters should not be judged until drivers become accustomed to using them.
Councilman Michael McHale asked what was the major complaint about the meters. Milano said the complaint was jammed kiosk meters sometimes caused by sticky quarters. Some were intentionally jammed by drivers.
She said the meters did not stop working until they were filled with $600 in change from motorists.
Milano said a report was being prepared to show meter revenue comparisons to previous years, before the kiosk meters were installed.She said there was no enforcement of the new meters for the first few weeks after they were first installed in order to first educate the public on how to use the meters.
Councilman William Kehner noted Cape May’s kiosk meters issue a receipt the driver places on their dashboard.
Divney said when council evaluated meters for purchase, they did want a system that would require drivers to walk back to their car after putting money in the kiosk meter. He said they also did not want paper receipts in the street as trash.