PSA: The new parking meters downtown are a special kind of confusing

I was trying to pay for parking last Tuesday and the screen kept asking for my 'vehicle zone identifier' before it would take my card. I stood there for five minutes looking for a sticker or number on my car. Turns out, you have to walk to the other side of the meter and type in the tiny number printed on the pole itself! A guy in a delivery van saw me and yelled, 'Yeah, they're all like that, it's stupid!' Has anyone else run into this or figured out a faster way?

3 comments

3 Comments

blair50619d ago

Oh man, I had the exact same problem! Actually, I found out the "vehicle zone identifier" is just the meter number itself, the one on the front of the box. You don't have to walk around. I just typed in the big numbers I was already staring at and it worked. It's still a weird way to ask for it though, super confusing!

troycarter10d agoMost Upvoted

Why do they make the simplest things sound so complicated? It feels like they're trying to trick you on purpose. I bet the person who wrote that label thought they were being clever. It just wastes everyone's time and causes stress. They should really just call it the meter number.

robert_bennett2919d ago

Glad that worked for you. I once spent ten minutes looking for a hidden code on a rental car before realizing the same thing.