Holiday shoppers navigating parking changes on Market Street in NuLu

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- People visiting one of Louisville's most popular destinations for shopping, a dinner with friends or a night on the town have recently been racking up parking tickets.

At the beginning of the year, the city phased out the physical, black parking meters along Market Street in NuLu to save people time and money, particularly those who aren't carrying coins or cash. In place of the meters, the city put up street signs asking people to pay to park via text message, a nearby kiosk or a smartphone app.

It's been especially prevalent this holiday season, when stores throughout NuLu have the biggest crowds.

"We are swamped," said Sarah Blazin, who helps run Muth's Candies. "We are never with an empty store and never with a phone not ringing."

Blazin said a lot of customers gamble with parking enforcement or don't know they need to pay to park.

"We have a nice little sign that we have laminated and stuck to our door," she said. "Because, at the beginning, people were very confused with the no meter, only the little station."

Kellie Voros planned ahead Wednesday to avoid a ticket. She said she often shops in NuLu and knows where and when it costs to park.

"I thought 'This is probably gonna take me longer to actually use the kiosks and to make my purchase and get out,'" Voros said. "So I had my mom with me today and I asked her to just sit tight in the car, that way I could be in and out and not have to pay the fee. Because for sure I would get caught."

Ultimately, she didn't want to pay the app's minimum, which is $2.62 for an hour.

"It's kind of a deterrent ..." she said

Right now, you can pay to park in NuLu on the Go502, Passport Parking, Park Mobile and PayByPhone app. Mike Tudor, executive director of the Parking Authority of River City, said if you don't want to download an app, you can "Text to Pay" or use the kiosks, which give you the option to reserve parking minute by minute.

"Just pay attention to your surroundings where you're parking it," Tudor said. "If you do want to pay less than an hour, you don't have to pay with the app. You can go to the pay station and you can pay for a shorter time period."

Tudor said the pay stations, which take the place of several meters, offers PARC flexibility to program them depending on the day, whether there are discounts to offer, etc.

"There's a lot more we can do with the pay stations than with a single-space meter," he said.

PARC is offering a $3 garage parking special at certain downtown Louisville PARC locations the next three weekends. Click here for the garage locations.

City parking spaces cost to park in Monday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, click here.

For more information on Pay-By-Cell, click here.