New parking meters are coming to Brookline’s parking lots. The town is replacing its 30 multi-space meters during the second week in April, and in order to protect users’ credit card data, Brookline will stop accepting credit cards at those meters between April 1 and April 17.
While credit card use will be down, the meters will still take cash and payment via the Passport or ParkBoston parking apps. For those without the apps on their phones, this does not necessarily mean that drivers have to stock up on quarters – credit card payment will still be accepted at the single space meters.
The 30 multi-space meters currently being used date back to 2008. In light of the aging meters, the vendor announced an end of life notice for replacement parts, technical support and PCI compliance for credit cards, according to Transportation Administrator Todd Kirrane.
“The technology is old, they want everyone to upgrade to new technology,” Kirrane said.
Brookline used the end of life announcement to explore options with other vendors and decided to go with IPS, who makes the single-space credit card meters in town. According to Kirrane, the major draws of the IPS meters were cost and the improved user-interface.
One of the most common complaints Brookline has received is about the user-interface and small screen on the existing multi-space meters, Kirrane said. Once installed, the new meters will have an improved user interface and larger screens.
According to Kirrane, the cost of retrofitting the meters was less than going with a new vendor.
The Passport app, which launched at the end of April in 2017, has seen over 431,000 parking meter transactions, according to the Brookline Transportation Department. Both Passport and ParkBoston, which also works in Brookline, can be downloaded to smartphones from Apple and Google Play app stores.
