Dubuque's Old Parking Meters to Be Phased Out

Over 2,000 parking meters around Dubuque are expected to be phased out in the near future. What will succeed the meters remains to be seen.

I'll never forget the first time I ever visited Dubuque, on the hunt for a place to live after accepting the job at Y105. I parked in downtown, walked into a leasing office, and actually asked the receptionist whether or not the parking meter out front was operational or just decoration. She looked at me like I just landed on this planet.

Parking Meters are from the "Dinosaur Age:"

Parking meters are archaic, and frankly, a pain in the ass. So few people carry cash anymore, and having to sift through the cupholder to deposit encrusted coinage into a device that looks like it was erected when Gerald Ford was president is a cumbersome experience.

So, it's a positive that the City of Dubuque is serious about phasing out their parking meters, and Ryan Knuckey, Dubuque's transportation services director, said it's been a long-time coming:

These meters are, as our consultant said, from the dinosaur age. These should’ve been replaced quite some time ago. They’re still serving their purpose with a lot of maintenance around the year, but we’re seeing a lot of failure - Dubuque Transportation Services Director Ryan Knuckey, per KCRG

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What Will Replace the Parking Meters?:

Knuckey added that the city is considering a few replacement options, including new parking meters, which require all drivers to pay to park via an app, or installing kiosks that allow drivers to enter their license plate numbers and pay by app, credit card, cash, or coins. The City of Dubuque wants to get proposals from vendors before doing anything:

We could go out and we could replace all of our meters with the same exact thing we have, but that’s not what we want to do. There’s too much technology where we could be collecting data and utilize it to the best of our knowledge to help the city - Dubuque Transportation Services Director Ryan Knuckey, per KCRG

While it would be nice if you could freely park in the city, ala Galena, it doesn't seem like the City of Dubuque will go that route. That said, my personal hope is whatever the City adopts allows for payment beyond just an app, for that's a whole other experience that's prohibitive for a lot of older people. Read more about the City of Dubuque planning sweeping updates to their parking meters on KCRG's website.