Thursday, 4:30 PM
Solar-powered parking meters in Back Bay
Globe Staff
Shoppers no longer need a pocket full of quarters to park on Newbury Street. A credit card can now be used to pay parking meters.
City officials today activated 23 solar-powered meters on a four-block stretch Newbury Street, where motorists will no longer feed coins into meters at 163 individual spaces. Instead, they will use cash or credit cards to buy time from machines that cover up to eight spots each. The machines issue tickets with time stamps that must be placed on cars' windshields.
Officials hope to eventually replicate the system throughout the city. To be sure shoppers understand how the new meters work, parking enforcement officers will be on Newbury Street to answer questions, handout printed instructions and offer assistance.
"I am proud that Boston is taking this step toward replacing equipment used in our everyday operations with up-to-date technology," Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a written statement. " .. I expect that they will improve the city’s parking process in Back Bay considerably."
As part of the new installations, the city removed 163 electronic, single space meters that will be used elsewhere in the city. The new meters, which will cover the often-jammed area between Arlington and Exeter streets, are expected to make parking easier in the congested shopping district, where merchants say they fear that customers sometimes stay away to avoid parking hassles.
