After experiencing significant pushback from Reading residents, the Select Board decided on October 15th to suspend parking kiosks in all downtown locations, effective immediately.
Installing parking meters in the Upper Municipal lot (behind CVS on Main St.) and the Brande Court lot (off of Haven St. near the train station) has been an ongoing process for the Select Board. According to a May 8th article in the Daily Times Chronicle, the earliest discussion of parking kiosks dates all the way back to January of 2020 when Nelson/Nygaard, a transit and transportation consulting firm, studied Reading’s downtown parking congestion. They concluded that it was not a lack of parking spaces causing the issue, but a lack of turnover. To ameliorate the congestion, the firm suggested charging visitors for parking in the municipal lots. However, the implementation of such a program was sidelined due to COVID-19.
In 2021, the Select Board created the Parking Advisory Recommendation Committee (PARC) to restart the review. PARC commissioned their own parking survey, finding similar results to Nelson/Nygaard, and ultimately, in the spring of 2022 the Select Board voted in favor of initiating paid parking. After numerous proposed rollout dates in the two years since, it was not until September 23rd this year that the meters were activated.
According to documents available on the Town of Reading Website, parking became meter-regulated Monday through Friday 8am-5pm and Saturday from 8am to 12pm. The first hour of parking was free, one to four hours was $1 per hour, and after four hours the rate increased to $5 per hour. In each of the municipal lots, two pay-by-plate kiosks were installed for transactions. They accepted credit cards and coins, but no paper bills. Or, users could download the PayByPhone parking app to pay online.
In the short 22 days the kiosks remained active, many residents and business owners of Reading took to social media, such as Facebook, to voice their opinions and share their experiences with the new system. The vast majority of responses were negative and conveyed common themes such as not enough free parking time allotted, decreased business for downtown establishments, inadequate signage for kiosks, difficulty using the technology, inconvenience, and simply the principle of having to pay another town fee. Equally as upset, but not typically ones to use Facebook to voice their concerns, many high school students also felt strongly about the newly installed meters.
RMHS Senior Emily Wright, an employee at Empower Cafe on Haven Street, shared in an interview held just before the kiosk suspension how she and her coworkers were personally affected by the parking system. “It’s horrible,” she stated. “We can’t use the free parking on the street for the whole amount of time of our shifts, so we have no choice but to park in the back and pay,” Wright continued.
Even with the addition of kiosks in the back lot, the Town of Reading still upheld its policy of the 2 hour on-street parking limit for Main St. and Haven St.. This left employees of the downtown businesses, such as Wright, spending their own money just to be able to park at work. Employees earning minimum wage and working shifts over 4 hours experienced a third of their hourly pay lost to the kiosks.
Wright also noted “The meters affect the other businesses on the street because customers don’t want to pay for parking either.” Alice Oberg (‘25), a frequent customer at Caffe Nero, confirmed this sentiment from Wright. In an interview, Oberg explained that while she used to visit Nero regularly, a negative experience with the kiosks has made her think twice about going again. “Caffe Nero has been a good place outside of my house to study. I usually get a coffee first and then stay for a couple of hours depending on how much work I need to finish,” Oberg said. Carrying only cash on hand from tips earned at her job, Oberg found herself unable to pay the newly implemented kiosks one day as she was unaware they had been installed. “I didn’t have a credit or debit card with me, so I had to go home when all I wanted to do was study. It would have been inconvenient to go back, and the whole situation was a frustrating turn off from one of my favorite places,” she explained.
Overhearing this interview with Oberg, RMHS Senior Molly Hackett jumped in to say how she too was astounded by the parking meters behind CVS. “I felt like that should be free. We hadn’t paid for parking ever before so why now?” she challenged. However, she then added “I’m just happy that they [the Select Board] listened to everyone and finally suspended them.”
Hackett’s feelings mirrored those of many others in Reading who were appeased by the 5-0 vote to pause the kiosks. One hope in the community is that the kiosks will be permanently suspended when the Select Board revisits the topic on January 15th, 2025. However, notwithstanding the suspension, the Select Board appears determined to proceed with the parking kiosks as they intend to do a “revamped rollout” after the holiday season, rather than abandon the endeavor as a whole.
