Royal Oak Officials Call for Parking Meter Upgrades

Royal Oak has 2,000 parking meters and only 400 of them are credit card-friendly. Elected officials are calling for more parking meters with credit card functions (Patch File Photo).

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Royal Oak has a limited number of parking meters that accept credit card payments, and with one of the busiest downtowns in the region, elected officials want to change that.

“We get a call at least once a week from people surprised that the city parking decks don’t take credit cards,” Shelly Kemp, executive director of the Royal Oak Chamber of Commerce, told the The Daily Tribune.

City commissioners are requesting more credit card options and signs directing motorists to available parking.

“If you look at other cities, they have other ways of paying,” city commissioner Jeremy Mahrle said. “Other cities have things like phone apps where you push a couple of buttons and your parking is paid for.”

Royal Oak has nearly 2,000 parking meters, and only 400 of them accept credit cards. The majority of Royal Oak’s parking meters accept coins only.

Greg Rassel, head of the Department of Public Services, said it makes sense to set up credit card meters in areas where there would be enough usage to justify the cost to the city – $5.75 per month per meter and 13 cents per transaction.

Mayor Jim Ellison says the city needs to increase awareness of available parking and steer employees who work in the area away from the prime downtown Royal Oak locations so they can be used by customers of local businesses.

“I’d like to see a way to get merchants away from those meters,” Ellison said.

Free parking is offered at Royal Oak’s three parking decks between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., and Ellison wants people to take advantage of the parking deals.

Downtown Development Authority Chairman Jay Dunstan said the city is “way behind on technology,” and he thinks the city should be more aggressive about deck maintenance, parking rates and enforcement. the DDA oversees parking issues for the city.