Keep the change: Short North launching mobile pay parking

You’ll be able to keep your change in your cupholder and your card in your wallet when you park in the Short North starting next month.

The Park Columbus app will launch on January 22 as part of the Short North parking plan.

“As a smart city, Columbus is always looking for innovative ways to alleviate traffic congestion and improve the parking experience,” Robert Ferrin, assistant director for parking services with the City of Columbus, said in a release. “This new ParkColumbus app gives people an easy way to pay so they can skip the meter and instead pay with their phone.”

Some streets in the Short North will transition to mobile payment-only streets and be marked with a zone sticker.

City staff are currently installing new parking regulatory signage throughout the Short North. The new signage is covered up with bags that has the old signage printed on it to maintain existing parking restrictions as applicable to the street.

To pay for parking with the app, you will follow these steps:

enter the zone number posted on the sticker
choose the length of time
select the “start parking” button

The app will send alerts when the meter is about to expire.

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The ParkColumbus app will also offer guest passes which will provide special 24-hour parking rates for visitors in the Short North and Children’s Hospital areas.

Here is a breakdown of the Short North parking plan according to The Dispatch:

Streets will be divided into five zones where permit holders could park anywhere at any time.
Parking rates will be $2 an hour between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m., and $3 an hour until 10 p.m. in three zones that border North High Street.
Rates will cost $1 an hour from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and $2 an hour until 10 p.m. in the other two zones.
A residential or business permit will be required to park on those streets after 10 p.m.a
Permits will cost $25 a year, with a maximum of two permits per residential household built before 2009.
Guests can park in two ways: Residents can buy $25 guest permits and add their license plates to the permit, or guests could buy 24-hour passes for $6.
Homes built after 2009 will not be eligible for permits due to development patterns and the availability of parking at that time.
Businesses can purchase up to 10 permits that get more expensive as businesses buy more of them.

The City of Columbus plans to implement mobile payment to all 4,500 parking meters at the end of next year.

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