Drivers in downtown St. Augustine will no longer be able to pay for parking with cash or coins.
Starting Monday, March 30, the City of St. Augustine Parking Division will swap more than 40 existing pay stations with new touchscreen kiosks that only take plastic, city officials said.
The new stations, provided by the City’s vendor Arrive, are designed to make parking faster and easier for residents and visitors alike, Communications Director Melissa Wissel said in a press release.
The replacements will be installed in three phases over three days per area and won’t disrupt current parking enforcement.
Phase one will replace kiosks around the Plaza, including St. George Street, Cathedral Place, King Street, the bayfront north along Avenida Menendez, and the always bustling Castillo de San Marcos parking lot.
Phase two encompasses areas near City Hall—Granada, Cedar, and Cordova Streets—and the bayfront south along Avenida Menendez and Marine Street.
Phase three includes other metered locations such as Charlotte Street, Valencia Street, Markland Place, the Tolomato Lot, and the Excelsior Lot in Lincolnville.
The St. Augustine Police Department will block off parking spaces during installation to give technicians some elbow room while they work.
A kiosk on Sevilla Street has already been removed due to ongoing construction and will be replaced when work concludes in June.
The new system “should prove to be more user-friendly,” officials said.
Parking has become a pressing issue in the Old City as it struggles to keep up with growing popularity and limited space.
