New parking fee machines coming to downtown Palatine commuter lots Wednesday

The old, metal cash collection slots in the downtown Palatine commuter parking lots will be used for the final time Tuesday because the village is rolling out a new electronic payment system for daily fare drivers Wednesday.

The new system will allow drivers to pay for parking in ways other than just using cash, which is something that commuters complained about, according to Deputy Village Manager Mike Jacobs.

Drivers can still pay the $2 fee in cash at any of the 11 new machines, or they can pay a 20-cent charge and pay by debit card or credit card, or pay an 85-cent charge and use a mobile app called Passport Parking. The additional charges are intended to offset the added costs the village must pay to provide those services.

Jacobs said he and other village staff members as well as representatives from Downers Grove-based Total Parking Solutions Inc. - the company that installed the machines - will be on hand to make the transition smoother this week.

"Commuters are creatures of habit, so we're all going to be out there to assist at the multiple locations where the machines are," Jacobs said.

Jacobs said Wednesday's switch to the new machines will only affect those who pay a daily fee, a group that he estimated to be around 800 people, or around two-thirds of the commuter lots' regular users. The 400 or so people who are currently enrolled in a monthly, quarterly or yearly parking permit plan won't have to change anything until 2017.

Jacobs said under the new system, permit users will only have to come to the village hall once to set up a monthly payment plan that they can then set to be a recurring payment for as long as they wish.

"You'll just have to remember to turn it off when you move or retire, or whatever it is," Jacobs said.

The village council unanimously approved the new parking system at a meeting in July. The plan cost $108,020.