“We’re going totally modern,” said Debbie Pacific, director of the Danbury Parking Authority, a quasi-municipal agency in charge of the garages, meters and public lots downtown.
The gates at the Patriot and Bardo garages will be removed. Instead of paying an attendant, drivers will input their license plate and payment into a kiosk or new mobile app. Cameras will recognize the license plate of permit holders, who will not need to use the kiosk or app. Kiosks will be installed for street parking, the mayor said.
Danbury City Council was expected to discuss at its Thursday meeting changes to the parking ordinances to reflect the new technology.
The city has included $100,000 in its approved capital budget for the project, with the authority contributing an additional $10,000. Pacific expects the new technology should go live by Nov. 1.
“In the long run, this will help us to generate more revenues, as well,” she said.
Parking revenue has taken a hit due to the coronavirus pandemic, with fewer people going downtown for shopping, dining and working, she said. Pacific estimated the number of monthly permits has fallen by 25 to 30 percent.
“As soon as we felt things were starting to be on the upward swing, we had the new delta variant come in and it put us back a little bit,” Pacific said. “We’re still hopeful. We’re still waiting for things to turn around.”
Revenue declined 24 percent by $200,000 from June 2020 to June 2021, she said. The authority cut salaries by about that much, too, she said.
Some employees were furloughed at the beginning of the pandemic, with staff, including Pacific, taking reduced hours and pay. Only two employees are back to full-time, she said. Employees still have their benefits.
The authority went from 16 employees before COVID to nine, with a couple employees retiring and some part-timers finding other jobs, she said.
The garages have operated on reduced hours due to the smaller staff, but the new technology should allow them to be open 24/7, Pacific said. The plan is to still have security at the garages.
“We’re just going to watch and see if we need someone and where we would need them,” she said.
Danbury will continue to use the ParkMobile app for street parking.
“So many people are familiar with it, and it really is accepted nationwide,” Pacific said.
Rates will stay the same, with parkers charged $1.50 per hour. The permit rate is $55 per month.
Downtown life
The mayor and CityCenter Danbury, the organization that supports the downtown business district, are excited about the new technology.
“That feature will be something that pushes Danbury forward,” said Angela Wong, executive director of CityCenter.
Life downtown is slowly returning to normal as residents return to stores and restaurants, she said. She doesn’t expect COVID to have a long-term effect on downtown or parking.
“People are very eager to return to what they’re used to,” Wong said.
New sidewalks downtown are meant to try to entice customers and businesses to downtown. The first phase of this streetscape project is expected to be completed this month.
“It’s, I think, doing exceptionally well,” Mayor Joe Cavo said. “I have no doubt that it’ll be done on time, if not earlier.”
Pacific said she hopes COVID’s effect on parking is temporary. Some parkers have started to return to the Metro-North Station lot in the last month, she said.
“People are getting a little comfortable working from home and staying at home and shopping from home, but I think that’s going to be short lived,” she said. “I think we want to be out in public. We want to get back to our normal lives, so I’m hoping things turn around soon.”
© 2021 The News-Times (Danbury, Conn.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
