Parking News

If you’re one of the many visitors to Third Avenue who have been clamoring for a better, faster, and more convenient way to pay for parking downtown, mark your calendar for October 6. That’s the day newly installed electronic parking meters become operational. It’s also the day when drivers can start using debit or credit cards in new pay and display meters in nine downtown parking lots.

The new street meters will accept coins and park cards. Park cards work like pre-paid and rechargeable gift cards. Purchase one at the City of Chula Vista’s Finance Department, located at City Hall.

Parking meters were first installed along Third Avenue in 1963, and some of the original machines were still in operation just before the conversion.

Parking meter funds generated over the past few decades are funding the improvements. “Cities across the country have introduced these new machines and methods of payment,” said Diem Do, the City’s Interim Parking Administrator. “No one has to worry about searching for change anymore. People everywhere like the convenience of paying with a card.”