MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Downtown is always a hot topic in regard to availability or to cost, but the Morgantown Parking Authority has several programs in place to make parking even easier for those visiting the downtown area.
“I think we can always do better, but currently, there’s a perception that if you come downtown you’re not going to find anywhere to park, and that certainly is not the case,” Morgantown Parking Authority Executive Director Dana McKenzie said. “We started a program a little over a year ago called the Green Zone, where you can park two hours per day period. If you’re just wanting to stop into a shop, grab lunch or do a little shopping, spaces are always available on High Street.”
The Morgantown Parking Authority’s newest program, entitled “This One’s on Us,” is geared to attract visitors to downtown who may be deterred from parking meter costs.
“What we’ve had in place since 1998 is a 10-minute grace period, where if you’re meter expires, we do have that period where we don’t issue a citation,” McKenzie said. “What we’ve decided to do is extend that to a 15-minute grace period, but instead of notifying you with a citation, we’re going to put a little, bright orange piece of paper on your vehicle that says, ‘Don’t worry. This one’s on us.’ It’s kind of our way of giving back to the general public and encouraging people to come back downtown.”
McKenzie said the authority did a similar pilot program during the 90s, but technology that was available at the time caused minor flaws with the system.
“We were having an issue with tracking who was getting them and who wasn’t, and at that point in time we did not have a grace period, so after six months, we decided to put an end to it and go with the 10-minute grace period across the board for everyone,” he said. “With this program, it’s set up for one a month and three a year with a 15-minute grace period.”
Another program that the authority plans to introduce by the end of the year is a mobile application that will go hand in hand with “This One’s on Us,” called Park Mobile.
“The beauty of Park Mobile is you’ll be able to pay for your parking through the app before you even get out of your vehicle, but it also has a feature where it will send you a text message 15 minutes prior to your meter expiring,” McKenzie said. “I think it’s going to be a great feature.”
McKenzie expects the mobile app to be widely popular due to the variety of ways people can pay for parking.
Parking lots in the downtown area have been equipped with pay stations for about three years, and nearly 60 percent of those who use the lots pay with a credit card as opposed to paying with cash or change.
“It’s been a great rollout, and people do like the idea of having something simple to use,” McKenzie said.
As these types of programs continue to roll out, McKenzie is optimistic that it will fight the perception of parking in downtown Morgantown.
“It’s been a battle for years, but we’re trying to get these initiatives out,” he said. “The more options, I think, we put out there, it’s going to change the perception of parking downtown, the more people we’re going to start seeing downtown — at least that is what our goal is.”