Phila. Parking Authority Will Cancel 'Smart Card' Program at Yearend
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Parking Authority is phasing out its Smart Cards.
If you have been using Philadelphia Parking Authority "smart cards" to pay for parking at meters and kiosks around the city, get ready to change back to change -- or to a credit card.
PPA deputy executive director Corrine O'Connor says Smart Card holders can use them in kiosks and meters only until December 31st.
"They'll be able to use them until the end of the year -- December 31, 2014," she advises. "We're going to stop selling them on May 30th."
O'Connor says the Parking Authority is axing its Smart Cards because of their high production costs and declining usage.
"At one point people were purchasing up to $3 million worth a year," she tells KYW Newsradio. "Now, this (past) year, we sold less than $300,000. So the demand for them has gone down significantly."
PPA kiosks will still accept credit cards. But at the approximately six thousand meters outside center city which also took the smart cards, parkers will have no option but to dig for change again.