In Charleston, South Carolina, the city has ordered 450 parking meters capable of payment with smartcards to replace the remaining meters in the city that can only be paid by coin, according to the Post and Courier.
A majority of the city’s meters are already using the plastic ID card technology, and it plans to have the rest installed by May. Charleston began the initiative 14 months ago and has sold nearly 800 cards since; the cards cost $5 initially and then can be loaded with any amount of money.
The cards can only be purchased in one location now, but the city plans to open an additional location soon.
"What we are working on right now is to outfit the [Charleston] Visitor Center to allow for the sale of the smartcards there, as well as the recharging of those cards," Hernan Pena, director of the Department of Traffic and Transportation, told the news provider. "We think we can make that happen in March."
Philadelphia also utilizes the smartcard parking meter system. All parking meters in the city now accept both smartcard payment and coins.
