OCEAN CITY, Md. - Paying for parking in Ocean City is about to get a high-tech upgrade, as town officials plan to eliminate most parking kiosks and transition to ParkMobile.
The Ocean City Council has plans to remove all kiosks except for those at the Inlet, replacing them with the mobile payment system. According to Ocean City Manager Terry McGean, this transition will be completed before April 1.
“Kiosks have reached the end of their useful life. It is a significant amount of money to replace them, and really a lot of communities are going to the pay-by-phone approach, so we’ll be moving in that direction,” said McGean.
In addition to the kiosks phasing out, the Ocean City Council will have its first reading on a proposal to remove all kiosk paid parking signs and replace them with ParkMobile signs.
Some residents see the change as a necessary step forward but acknowledge that the transition may require adjustments. Worcester County resident Dee Dee Barnhill suggested a support system similar to self-checkout stations at grocery stores, where staff are available to assist customers.
“At least at the beginning, if they would have, for instance, like a self-checkout line in the grocery store where there is usually someone available to help if you need it, that would be great,” Barnhill said.
McGean added that the town plans to provide instructions on how to use ParkMobile through its website and social media channels.