City of Duluth to remove parking meters, expected by mid-March

DULUTH, Minn. — The city of Duluth is transitioning from aging parking meters to a modern payment system.

The city plans to remove all parking meters and move to digital methods of paying.

Duluth Parking Services Manager Mark Bauer said currently 80% of payments are made via the Park Duluth app, while 20% are meters.

The new system aims to eliminate failed or damaged meters, as replacement costs for all new meters in the city is estimated around $2 million.

It offers three payment options, the Park Duluth app, text-to-park for flip phones and QR codes.

‘We are retaining our multi-stall kiosks. Those are the kiosks on Superior St, downtown and some in Canal Park. Those are going to remain in place, and it’s likely the city is going to reposition some of those kiosks in areas where we are seeing that there’s a concentration of people that are having challenges using the phone technology to pay,” Bauer said.

The city hopes to start installing new signage and removing meters soon, which is expected to be completed mid-March.

“The system walks you through step by step, how to pay and how to use it. Beyond that, if anybody has any questions, we are happy to answer those. We’ll be sending out some materials on how to use the system. You should see it on the city’s website and other places, little tutorials on how to use it. We’re happy to answer questions if people get confused,” Bauer said.

Bauer encourages people to provide feedback during the transition; Duluth Parking Services also aims to be understanding during the adjustment period.