License plate ID system allows for fewer meters

GALVESTON — Tourists and residents might not see many meters this spring when paid parking is implemented on the seawall.

Central Parking System, which operates parking at Bush Intercontinental Airport, and in New York City and Los Angeles, will manage a license-plate recognition system on the seawall if the bid is approved by the city council later this month.

Central Parking beat out other vendors for the project, including Ampco System Parking, which operates paid parking downtown, Brian Maxwell, assistant city manager, said.

“It’s a combination of Internet parking purchases and pay-by-phone,” he said. “Central Parking also has an app where you can do this. There will be ambassadors on bikes, up to 15, that will also be able to take payment — a lot of flexibility.”

Paid parking is expected to start by spring break. Under the proposed system, seawall visitors can pay for a space online before heading to the beach, tap through Central Parking’s smartphone app or call to pay for a spot. Visitors also can pay to park at one of two proposed kiosks.

Parking will cost up to $8 a day with hourly parking available at $1 an hour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“When you pay for parking, you enter the license plate number,” Maxwell said. “There will be a car that drives up and down the seawall and scans the cars. They’ll also use the same vehicles in the neighborhood to enforce parking.”

Probably about 10 meters will be installed west of 61st Street, Maxwell said. Officials from Central Parking and the city are negotiating terms of the agreement, including potential problems such as paying ahead at home and then finding seawall packed with visitors.

“We’ve talked about letting them get into Stewart Beach if they prepay and there are no spots available,” Maxwell said.

Central Parking and the city will split revenue from the parking system. Central Parking officials have estimated about $250,000 in net revenue a year for the city based on about $1 million in sales.

“We don’t know what the revenue is going to be,” Maxwell said. “We won’t know until we have a season under our belt. If we have a summer like we did last summer with no rain, it’s going to be great. If it rains on the key weekends, it’s not going to be so good.”

The council will consider awarding the bid to Central Parking on Jan. 26. As part of the paid parking system, three restrooms promised to voters before the May election should be ready within a month or two after they are covered with wraps, Maxwell said.

Before voters approved a proposal for revenue collection on the seawall, the city council agreed to place portable restrooms on the seawall as a show of faith to residents if the proposal passed.

Two restroom trailers will be placed on the seawall, one at 29th Street and the other near 45th Street, and one other restroom facility will be placed downtown. The trailers, at about $16,000 each, will be paid for with convention center surplus funds and later reimbursed by paid parking revenues.