New Parking Pay Stations Installed Throughout Downtown Cranford

As part of an ongoing effort to make parking in Cranford more convenient for visitors and shoppers, the Cranford Police Department will be unveiling a new system of pay stations throughout the downtown area on June 30, 2014.  The system will become operational at 5:30am and will replace many of the curbside meters, as well as the previous system of payment kiosks.

 Forty-six of the new terminals have been installed; more than double the number of stations operated under the previous system.  Although the parking stations are designed to be user friendly, members of the Cranford Police Traffic Division will be situated in or near the municipal parking lots to assist with the transition and answer any questions.

According to Cranford Police Lieutenant Edward Davenport, visitors to the downtown area will have multiple options when accessing the pay stations.  “Although the machines will always accept cash and credit cards,” he said, “frequent users have the option of using the mPay2Park smartphone app to pay or renew a parking fee without ever touching the terminal.”  Also, within 4-6 weeks, the Township anticipates selling reloadable smart cards to frequent users who prefer that method. 

Cranford Police Chief James Wozniak stressed that although the equipment has changed, the rates have not. “This project will make parking in Cranford a more uniform process,” he stated, “but the added convenience does not mean higher fees or changing parking regulations.”   

The new network of pay stations was developed by Digital Payment Technologies.  It was installed and will be maintained by Integrated Technical Systems of Parsippany NJ in cooperation with the Cranford Police Department.