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Tucson is replacing its coin-operated parking meters with devices that take debit and credit cards.
The devices are going in this month downtown and along University Boulevard. With the new meters comes a standardized fee, $1 for an hour of parking. That's double what it costs now to park at a meter downtown and equal to the fee on University Boulevard.
Tucsonan Cesar Martinez, monitoring a meter where he was parked on University Boulevard Monday, said he likes the idea of meters that take card payment.
“It’s going to be more convenient for us we’re not looking for change all over the place, bothering people, businesses, you’ve got your card with you, just swipe it and go,” Martinez said.
The city also will for the first time install meters along North Fourth Avenue and several side streets within a block of Fourth, said Park Tucson administrator Donovan Durband.
He said the new card-friendly meters will also take coins and are meant to be more convenient.
“When you don’t have to worry about whether you’re stocking change in your car or asking a business to change a buck for you, I think it will be easy and I think it will improve the mindset," Durband said.
Durband said the city is developing a smart phone application that will let people see how much time is left on their meters.
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