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As campus parking lots at Michigan Tech leave few open spaces throughout the school year, students have resorted to seeking parking on nearby city streets and walking to campus, with Seventh Street being the most likely parking alternative.
The city of Houghton has taken notice and recently installed signage instructing motorists to pay for their parking electronically.
Rather than lining the street with coin operated meters, the city has implemented the use of a mobile parking app that students are already familiar with, but the general public may not be.
“We’re trying to get people familiar with the park mobile app. We’re switching over from meters in that area to the app itself. Michigan Tech uses it a lot on campus. It’s been working out for them, so we’ve started using it also. We’ve just got it set up so we want to get the word out there please use the Parkmobile app,” said Lt. Nick Roberts of the Houghton Police Department.
As it’s proven itself to be an efficient payment method for the parking department on campus, the movement has been started in making the coin entry system obsolete. Late last year the university removed the coin operated gate entry in its visitor lot that now collects its revenue exclusively from the app.
“You just go on your phone, set it up, and then you can actually pay for the parking right on your phone,” said Roberts.
Just like on campus, when motorists park on Seventh Street, they simply log into the app and select the amount of time that they will be parked. They then enter the car’s license plate number, which becomes registered as an authorized parked vehicle, and when law enforcement patrols the area, they quickly know who has paid the parking fee and who gets a $25 parking ticket.
“We’ve had trouble getting people to use it and they’re getting parking tickets. We’re not trying to generate parking tickets, we’re trying to generate easier parking for everybody, so please use the app. If you have any questions please feel free to call our office at (906) 487-5912, and we can talk you through the app and give you directions,” Roberts added.
The city began using the app last month and has since reduced parking prices to encourage drivers to take part.
Currently, Seventh Street is the only residential street in the city that requires the use of the app, but parking officials say that it will soon be applied to Houghton Avenue as well.
