There’s a new form of parking payment coming to Montclair this month. According to city officials, Montclair will begin replacing meter system parking with kiosk system parking by the end of December. Here’s what we know about the new parking system coming to Montclair in the coming weeks.
Meters that had been in place at the lots will be redistributed to streets, to help mitigate the township’s ongoing problem with broken meters, according to Montclair Local.
The kiosk parking payment stations at surface lots will be replacing the meters used for individual parking spots.
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Going forward, those who park in lots will also be able to pay for parking with a new app being introduced called Flowbird as well as have the option to use the same Parkmobile app that has previously been available – which will continue to be used for on-street parking.
Many of the meters have been reported to be broken, not working efficiently, and in poor condition. Councilman Yacobellis said in October he thought 80% of the meters on Walnut Street and more than half on Bloomfield Avenue were broken. Kiosks are the council’s plan to combat this issue.
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Verizon wasn’t expected to make the switch until December 2022. However, hundreds of meters reportedly stopped working following it. Councilman Yacobellis stated that township staff is working with Verizon to have the 2G service turned back on. Last month, the Councilman said about 120 meters had been sent in for repair and replaced with 4G chips at that point and around 280 new batteries had been received or were on the way to get meters up and running.
Montclair has flagged all 1,300 meters with stickers warning motorists to pay or risk tickets. The kiosks are expected to be active by the end of December.
