A new year means new ways to pay for parking.
In addition to HONK, the city of San Luis Obispo has added ParkMobile, Park Smarter, and PayByPhone mobile apps in an effort to make paying for on-street parking more convenient.
“I think it’s a great idea, I think it’s going to make it easier," said said Ryan Moreira who works in downtown SLO. "Sometimes you just go to have lunch or have like a wine somewhere and then you have to run to the park station just to pay for some more."
Employees working in downtown said they often see customers forget to add more time to their two-hour parking limit.
“What happens is people have so much fun that they forget and when they get back, guess what? 'Boom', they get a 40-dollar ticket or whatever it is," said Geo Alvarado, Cafe Crepes employee.
They say now with these apps available, it will help customers extend their stay from wherever they are.
“You can just keep doing what you’re doing just go to your phone and pay for some more if you need to," added Moreira. "It’s much better."
City officials said parking stations and structures are also available. Some residents said they rather use pay stations than parking apps.
“I honestly don’t like downloading things on my phone, but I think most people like today in this day and age, they probably will," said Caroline Quigley, who was visiting Downtown San Luis Obispo.
Another important thing to note is that rates may vary depending on where drivers park and which app they use.
According to the city’s website, there are three tiers for on-street and lot rates. The first-tier rate zone is $2 an hour, tier two is $1.75 and tier three is $1.25.
Instructions on how to use each of these mobile apps are available on this website.
