Royal Oak votes on parking pay system, attempting to solve years old problem

City votes on new parking pay system

The City of Royal Oak has devoted a lot of time and effort to find a fix that the council could agree on. If the issue of parking in Royal Oak sounds familiar, that's because the current system has only been in place for four years.

ROYAL OAK, Mich. (FOX 2) - The community in Royal Oak has been trying to solve a years-old problem of what to do about parking on city streets.

The city has devoted a lot of time and effort to finding a fix that the council could agree on.

Big picture view:

If the issue of parking in Royal Oak sounds familiar, that's because the current system has only been in place for four years. That has left some to wonder why we need to change this system at all.

Currently, you pay at a station or via app. The spot then changes from red to green, but if you go over your time and a brief grace period, you get a ticket mailed directly to you.

The backstory:

In the four years since this system has been in place, enough people complained about the city to take notice and look for an alternative.

This time around, the city is proposing no revenue sharing with vendors, but the 150 spots each carry a nearly $700 annual service at the city’s expense, not to mention the time and cost to remove and install the meters.

Dig deeper:

During the meeting, other ideas were shared by the public.

The commission ultimately voted to use a more traditional meter that allows users the ability to use a ParkMobile app as well.

The next steps include public outreach and education, and then they will tackle the issue of parking enforcement, which may include finding an alternative to tickets by mail.