City changes pay-for-parking system

Customers now pay based on their license plate, rather than stall number

by Amy Cloud, Communications and Outreach / December 07, 2017 (Thursday)
There is a new system in place for how customers pay for parking at City pay stations. As of Wednesday, Dec. 6, the system has converted from paying by stall number to paying via vehicle license plate number.  As stall numbers are no longer needed, they have been removed from the street. 
There is signage in place with instructions on how to pay for parking, and the pay stations include this information on their screens.
This is part of an overall revamp of the City's parking system so that all permitting, ticketing and enforcement will be based on license plate recognition (LPR).
"License plate recognition is for all City parking," said Clark Williams, City of Bellingham Public Works superintendent. "Garage and parking lots permits, as well as street parking – everything is now based on license plates, including our hugely popular PayByPhone app, which launched last December."