Automated System Improves Parking in Downtown Fargo

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Parking in downtown Fargo can be difficult for many drivers.

But a new automated parking system is an effort to change that.

Kelsy Hewitt works downtown Fargo at the Boiler Room and Blackbird Woodfire.

“I work at blackbird too so sometimes I am here all day,” says Kelsy Hewitt of Fargo.

She’s been using these new digital pay stations during her shifts.

“It’s made it actually a lot easier. A lot of times we would park here on the streets and worry about getting tickets and people would have to leave and go move their car while we’re working,” says Hewitt.

Before this new automated parking system was installed, she says she and her co-workers found themselves complaining about downtown’s parking situation on a regular basis.

“It’s really only 90 minute parking. If you do want the four hour parking it’s over outside of downtown,” Hewitt says.

Which is why the city is working to improve parking.

“It was a cash only transaction so we were limiting the type of customers that we could handle,” says Joe Nigg, a city of Fargo planner.

Now parking in the city of Fargo isn’t just limited to 90 minutes. Just look for one of these digital pay stations and you can get long-term hourly parking.

“We’ve had the opportunity to try and transition to more of an automated, more of a technology-based solution in terms of managing our parking system downtown,” says Nigg.

The new system also brings in the use of technology. Parkers can pay for their sessions and extend the length of time with their smart phone.

“The Passport app would give you the ability to pay for your parking or extend by phone without even having to go up to the pay station,” Nigg says.

So next time you’re looking for long-term parking, just look for this new Fargo parking logo.

The hourly rate for parking is $1.50 per hour.