Does anyone know if parking meters are checked after say 5 or 6? Used to be they were not then or on the weekends, but not so sure now?

Nevermind, looks like I answered my own question - "The meters are in effect and enforced from 8 am until 6 pm, Monday through Friday."

Source: http://parkingokc.com/rates

For what it’s worth I’ve never gotten a ticket after five, despite having worked downtown for 25+ years.

For what it’s worth I’ve never gotten a ticket after five, despite having worked downtown for 25+ years.

I have and it was not small.

I have always heard the meter maids don't work after 430 pm except that the patrol officers will write tickets in Bricktown. Never had a ticket after 5 either despite many times parking after 5

They only just recently moved the hours up to 6:00 when they upped the prices and installed the new meters if i remember correctly.

They only just recently moved the hours up to 6:00 when they upped the prices and installed the new meters if i remember correctly.

They have been 8-6 Mon-Sat as long as I can remember. Interesting...there are one or two days a year that are federal holidays but not State/city holidays and they will ticket you those days even though the meters say no need to pay on holidays. We fought it in city court and Judge ruled against us. Wasn't worth taking up.

I have always heard the meter maids don't work after 430 pm except that the patrol officers will write tickets in Bricktown. Never had a ticket after 5 either despite many times parking after 5

I received a ticket from a patrol officer in the CBD a couple of years ago. Pretty darn sure it was right around 5PM.

Yeah, can’t speak to a patrol officer with a wild hair or who was drawn to ticket a vehicle for some reason other than overtime meter (parked in no parking, or expired tag, for instance). Patrol cops rarely write parking tickets. An overtime meter is always a $15 ticket, and I’ve never seen parking enforcement write one after five. The general consensus among downtown workers is that they have mostly headed back to the barn for shift end.

I haven't used one of the kiosks yet, but we got a memo at work (CLR) detailing how to use them. It seems you have to go to the kiosk and plug in your plate (the pdf recommended keeping a picture of your license plate on your phone) and pay at the kiosk. Was there not a better option than this? I was just in Breckenridge, where you have to pay to park everywhere, and they have an app you just use on your phone. You can add multiple vehicles to your profile, and re-up for more time from the app, set up alerts, etc. It was slick to use, allowed you to end your parking time early (and get some of your money back) and you didn't have to go to a kiosk to pay or keep a picture of your license plate with you at all times. Hopefully this is just the first step and we'll eventually move in that direction.

Like others have said, I have never seen a meter maid past 5pm. It would seem you have to be insanely unlucky to get a ticket post 5pm.

Also I think it is a total crock of you know what, that the meters themselves don't have the hours. I have seen people feeding meters as late as 8 or 9pm and on weekends.

What happens when the meter is broken? I’ve gone a few times and ended up with a broken meter, and I’ve been tempted to just take a picture of the screen with the date and time and the out of order message and see if I can argue a ticket in court later. But then I end up walking to the other end of the block to find a working meter.

This is what the website says:


Parking Meter Malfunction
If a parking meter malfunctions, please report it here or call 297-1331 and advise them of the problem. Please be prepared to give the meter number and location so the meter can be checked. If you receive a ticket at a malfunctioning meter, please report it here or call 297-2326 prior to your arraignment date.

So it sounds like if you park @ a broken meter, it is best to take a photo/video. And report the issue. But it sounds like you can still park there, but could receive a ticket that could likely be dropped by the sound of it.

I park by the Gardens for Thunder games. Usually get there around 5 and go to bricktown to eat. I always pay as it's only $1.50 well $2 now from 5-6. However no one ever has a sticker on their cars. I would say 95% of the people are not paid. Not only that but there are so many cars parked in spots that are not parking spots. In front of hydrants also. I guess I pay cause one time in the 6 years of going to Thunder games I saw someone driving around about 5:50 writing tickets. Ever since then I have thought $2 is better than a ticket. How much is a ticket anyway?

This is likely a separate issue, but I parked across Sheridan from the new AC Hotel right before it opened. I just wanted to look at the new construction for a few minutes and naively figured I'd be fine, but came back to a guy issuing a ticket for the paid lot. However, I never received a ticket by mail. Do you think it just went to a wrong address since I'm out of state? What records do they use to send tickets?

Parking fine is $15. However it can be an additional $15 for every one hour of expiration past the time the original citation was placed. So sometimes when you see a vehicle with multiple tickets, each one is when the maid came for an additional pass at least an hour after the original ticket placement.

If you don't pay by at least your arraignment date, the cost is "late" $34.

dankrutka, are you saying you were in the lot or were you on the street?

In my observation, the closer you park to the arena during events, the more likely you are to get a ticket after 5. I've seen enforcement being done after 5 on game nights for example, but only in the areas impacted by events. Up around my street (5th), I've not seen such late enforcement. The meter maids tend to mix it up in the mornings and start in different areas. I've come out of my building not long after 8 and seen every metered car with a ticket.

What happens when the meter is broken? I’ve gone a few times and ended up with a broken meter, and I’ve been tempted to just take a picture of the screen with the date and time and the out of order message and see if I can argue a ticket in court later. But then I end up walking to the other end of the block to find a working meter.
I had that situation recently. I noted the meter and called to report it. I was told to not pay the ticket and wait for it to be investigated. About a month later I got a letter telling me the meter was found to be not working properly and to disregard my ticket.

dankrutka, are you saying you were in the lot or were you on the street?

I was in the new lot on the south side of Sheridan across the street from the new AC Hotel.

The previous pay-and-display meters were ridiculous - especially in bad weather. Such a step backwards from traditional meters. Glad they are doing the pay-by-plate meters now.

FYI - meters are actually enforced starting at 7am. (according to this Parking OKC page (http://parkingokc.com/new-meters))

Still makes no sense there is no app for downtown OKC meters.

The reason for having to put your tag number into the system is... the parking enforcement vehicles have been equipped with tag readers on their vehicles. So all they have to do is drive along side of the line of cars and their computer will alert them if a vehicle hasn't paid for parking. The meter maid still has to get out and place the ticket on the vehicle. If they could automate the system and have a ticket mailed to you (like pike pass) then you could place the tag reading equipment on a city bus or other city vehicle and automate that job all together.

The reason for having to put your tag number into the system is... the parking enforcement vehicles have been equipped with tag readers on their vehicles. So all they have to do is drive along side of the line of cars and their computer will alert them if a vehicle hasn't paid for parking. The meter maid still has to get out and place the ticket on the vehicle. If they could automate the system and have a ticket mailed to you (like pike pass) then you could place the tag reading equipment on a city bus or other city vehicle and automate that job all together.

I'm shocked they don't have sensors at each parking space that just spit out tickets the second the meter runs out. I guess this also makes it hard for people to feed someone else's meter - being nice. I actually got threatened with a ticket for doing that. So, in response I put another quarter in another meter. She detained me for a few minutes while she called someone (supervisor I guess), then she just told me to go on. Ridiculous.

They’re still the same old kiosks but with more input, they still spit out a display sticker which, I can only assume is required so patrol cops can check them. I parked on main near the century center this week. I hit “max time” and it charge me $4 for 2 hours in a clearly marked 1hr zone. Pathetic.

They’re still the same old kiosks but with more input, they still spit out a display sticker which, I can only assume is required so patrol cops can check them. I parked on main near the century center this week. I hit “max time” and it charge me $4 for 2 hours in a clearly marked 1hr zone. Pathetic.

According to ParkingOKC "How to use the new meters" #6 "Finally, take your receipt. No need to go back to your car and display it!"

The previous pay-and-display meters were ridiculous - especially in bad weather. Such a step backwards from traditional meters. Glad they are doing the pay-by-plate meters now.

FYI - meters are actually enforced starting at 7am. (according to this Parking OKC page (http://parkingokc.com/new-meters))

Still makes no sense there is no app for downtown OKC meters.

Embark said the time is 8am and they will correct the pages on their website that have the wrong time (7am).

The reason for having to put your tag number into the system is... the parking enforcement vehicles have been equipped with tag readers on their vehicles. So all they have to do is drive along side of the line of cars and their computer will alert them if a vehicle hasn't paid for parking. The meter maid still has to get out and place the ticket on the vehicle. If they could automate the system and have a ticket mailed to you (like pike pass) then you could place the tag reading equipment on a city bus or other city vehicle and automate that job all together.

I just think if we had an app, you store all that info in your profile (like I did in Breckenridge) and I don't have to go to a kiosk and plug in my plate information and pay and go back to my car....I can do it all from my phone. And if I'm out having a good time and my parking is down to 15 minutes, I get an alert, pull up the app, add another hour or two, and be done. So much simpler.

The entire point of parking meters (at least when they were invented) is to encourage turnover, which is defeated if they made it easier for you to stay all day with an app.

is there any advantage to turnover? IE does it cost more money to park for the first hour than it does in subsequent hours? i would think the point is to collect money for people parking in a spot. To me, the easier you make it for people to pay, the more money you will ultimately collect. Otherwise, what does turnover do? In fact, encouraging turnover actually guarantees that a spot will go unparked in for a certain amount of time (the time it takes between me leaving and you parking, whatever amount that is) so i would think encouraging turnover would be anti-productive, if the goal is to collect parking fees anyway.

Spots without cars is actually the point of forcing turnover. If done correctly, paid street parking is not a revenue generator, but an open spot generator. By ensuring that people can’t just show up early and take up a spot all day, the same spots are available for people visiting the area in the morning, late morning, lunch, early afternoon, and late afternoon. They don’t want one person paying for 10 hours for one spot, they want 5+ people paying for spots, visiting 5 different places to spend money there.

A well manged parking program doesn’t generate parking, it generates traffic for the businesses in the area.

Thank you for explaining it much better than I could have.

And between surface lots, the new City garage, and the planned garage in film row, there’s an all day option in pretty much every sector of town. I always gripe about the 1hr parking though, it’s hard to park, walk to building, ride elevator, wait in waiting room while secretary offers tiny bottle of water, have a meeting, and return to the car in 60 minutes.

Spots without cars is actually the point of forcing turnover. If done correctly, paid street parking is not a revenue generator, but an open spot generator. By ensuring that people can’t just show up early and take up a spot all day, the same spots are available for people visiting the area in the morning, late morning, lunch, early afternoon, and late afternoon. They don’t want one person paying for 10 hours for one spot, they want 5+ people paying for spots, visiting 5 different places to spend money there.

A well manged parking program doesn’t generate parking, it generates traffic for the businesses in the area.

Fair enough, honestly curious.

No problem. Lots of places use parking purely to generate venue. Once a surface lot has your money they are happy, and parking garages are also happy to have long term customers. They want you to park.

The city, for the sake of increasing street traffic for people visiting businesses in the area, is more interested in making you leave so someone else can park on the street close to a business than they are in making profit from parking.

^^^^^^^^^
Just to add to the excellent explanation from d-usa, it’s worth pointing out that when the parking meter was invented - in OKC no less - its development was commissioned not by City government but instead by the Chamber and driven by downtown businesses, especially retailers. They were struggling because day parkers were tying up the convenient parking in front of their businesses and making it a pain for customers to come in and spend money.

It was never originally viewed as a revenue generation tool but instead as a parking management tool; it was intentionally designed to discourage day parking, and to move such use off of the street and into surface lots or later, garages.

In support of d-usa's explanation, from a NewsOK article dated 1/8/2018 (http://newsok.com/new-parking-meters-being-installed-in-downtown-oklahoma-city/article/5578726), "Changes are intended to drive long-term parkers into garages, freeing up more on-street parking for short-term errands."

Additionally, "The new rate of $2 per hour for metered parking is expected to bring in $640,000 in additional annual revenue."