New Downtown Parking Meters, With Rebrand, Coming Soon

parking meter
Parking meter Downtown. Photo: Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

The rollout of high-tech parking meters tested the patience of Downtown visitors and merchants led by retired Superior Court Judge Carmen Lopez who challenged the aggressive logistics, fines and intrusive cameras, as well as business leader Kelvin Ayala who pushed City Hall for user-friendly reforms. The city is expected to begin the process of installing new meters, less the cameras, in July that includes a public outreach campaign.

CT Post reporter Brain Lockhart has more:

“We were hoping they’d be gone before the summer season really kicked in,” said Kelvin Ayala, owner of Moe’s Burger Joint and a downtown small business leader who has been a vocal critic of the parking meter program. “If I’m a betting man, this whole thing won’t be completed until September, October.”

But, Ayala said, he will be glad once “the entire downtown district will have one meter.”

For years, businesses urged City Hall to replace the coin-operated meters with ones that accept credit cards.

Full story here.

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13 comments

  1. Ron, you are getting as witty as Andy and the Kid. I have only one comment,”what a difference one smart, determined, fearless woman has made in this debacle.” JUDGE CARMEN LOPEZ, Bridgeport’s conscience, redeemer, and Sentinel.

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  2. Brian Lockhart wrote an excellent piece on the CT Post website.
    He picks apart Ganim’s “promise” to “slightly increase the rebates offered through the state’s tax relief program for elderly/disabled renters.”
    Unfortunately he made the same promise to city taxpayers on municipal taxes and then went ahead and reneged on that even though he had extra money to add to the rainy day fund.
    Lets see. Help out elderly and disable voters or put money into the rainy day fund. That a no brainier. Fund the rainy ay fund which can then be used for bridging his benefits and other more personal city expenses like longevity pay.
    What a piece of work.

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  3. *** They need one @ the BOE meetings, they’ll make mucho-money on the members that talk over their individual time period & interrupt other member’s time periods aswell.*** Lets hope they’ll only use them Mon.- Fri. and let native Bpt.tax-paying citizens use downtown services on the weekends without having to also pay for parking. Seems city residents already pay enough money & taxes for everything else & deserve a small break now & then, plus the downtown merchants need the weekend business, no? ***

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  4. I refuse to go downtown Bridgeport for anything, I have no problem driving to another town to purchase the same thing that I could buy downtown here.

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