News & Press Releases - City of Boston

Home

Online Services

Residents

Business

Visitors

Students

Government

Search Press Releases

Social Media Center

RSS Feeds

E-Newsletters

Text & Voice Notifications

Calendar

Schools Press Releases

Public Health Commission Press Releases

Press Office

City Hall Hours & Directions

Mayor's Online Constituent Service

City Departments

	New Parking Meters to Accept Credit/Debit Cards Once Again
11/30/2006 - Released by Transportation Department
For more information contact Tracey Ganiatsos
The Boston Transportation Department today announced that credit and debit cards will once again be accepted for payment at the new multi-space parking meters on Newbury Street in the Back Bay. The option will become available by mid December after the meters are reprogrammed to reflect that a minimum payment will no longer be required for credit and debit card transactions. BTD temporarily discontinued the credit/debit card payment option at these meters on November 21 after reports that the city's card payment policy could be in conflict with regulations established by the credit card companies. "It was recently brought to our attention that the payment policy at our new multi-space parking meters on Newbury Street could be construed as being in violation of a little known Mastercard/Visa regulation that does not allow vendors to establish a minimum fee for credit and debit card payments," said Boston Transportation Commissioner Thomas J. Tinlin. He added, "We spoke with representatives of the credit card companies who confirmed that we are not operating in compliance with these regulations, and BTD will immediately change our policy as a result. However, Visa/Mastercard representatives also informed us that the regulations were written years ago, long before consumers began using credit cards for this type of transaction or, for that matter, to purchase any goods or services that cost such a minimal amount. In fact, the Transportation Department is only one of many vendors who have set a minimum credit/debit purchase allowance and inadvertently abused the internal regulations of the nation's credit card companies." Work to reflect the change to the city's multi-space parking meter policy will begin immediately and BTD expects to have the credit/debit payment feature back up and running soon. Throughout this process, the meters will continue to operate Monday through Saturday, from 8AM to 8PM, accepting dollar bills, dollar coins and quarters. Meg Mainzer, President of the Back Bay Association said, "We are delighted to learn that drivers will be able to pay for parking on Newbury Street using credit and debit cards once again. Back Bay businesses are supportive of the new meters as they provide our customers with reasonably priced, short-term, curbside parking spaces without forcing them to bring fistfuls of quarters to pay for this convenience. We commend the city for bringing us updated technology that contributes to the vitality of our community." In general, the new meters have been well received in Boston. Twenty-three of the new multi-space, solar-powered parking meters were installed on a four block span of Newbury Street, between Arlington and Exeter Streets, in October of this year. Several Parking Enforcement Officers from the Boston Transportation Department were assigned to Newbury Street for the first weeks after installation to distribute informational pamphlets and to instruct drivers how to use the new meters. In addition, BTD issued warnings rather than parking tickets at the new meters for the first two weeks that they were operational. As a result, drivers became familiar with the technology quickly and BTD received virtually no complaints.

Return to a list of Press Releases

Search:

RSS Feed Now Available
Stay up to date with the latest news and press releases from the City of Boston by subscribing to our RSS feed. Open RSS Feed »

Contact Info

Email Notifications

Text Size:

Privacy & Security