Text-to-park system begins at The Steel District as part of larger downtown rollout

The way you pay to park in downtown Sioux Falls is starting to change.

New signs are up in front of parking spaces at The Steel District instructing drivers to text “Steel” to a given number in order to pay for their parking.

“Digital-only is the option there,” said Matt Nelson, the city’s public parking and utility billing manager.

“The ramp is where you can park if you’re not sure how long you’re going to be there or you’re going to be there an extended time. That’s where you should park.”

The 70 surface spaces enforced by the digital-only system are limited to three hours. Like meters in much of downtown, it’s $1.50 per hour, but there’s also a 45-cent convenience fee charged to use the texting system.

Once you text the system, you’ll be prompted to enter your phone number and password if you chose to create an account, or you can log in as a guest. Enter your license plate number, and choose whether to pay by debit or credit card.

“You can text your time via text,” Nelson added. “Save your information, and if you ever pay again, it will bring that up so you don’t have to reenter.”

The system requires payment from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. It’s free on nights and weekends, as is the ramp. Last week, the city gave warning tickets to vehicles parked in the digital-only spaces that hadn’t texted to pay — averaging 27 to 30 every day.

A traffic enforcement vehicle with a camera that can read license plates monitors to see whether vehicles have paid.

While The Steel District is a private development, the city has an enforcement easement to essentially treat it like a public street.

“This was a request to have more enforced parking up there to create more availability, and the decision we made together was digital-only coming into the modern age,” Nelson said. “And from a cost perspective, putting in meters and maintaining them adds up. I would say we’re overdue to do this.”

And these 70 spots are just the start. Angled parking near Jacobson Plaza also will be enforced with digital-only parking payment this summer, and the approach will be scaled beyond that.

“We are looking to bring this same system citywide,” Nelson said. “We plan to start in May, so we will begin rolling it up, and it will take awhile to implement with meters and making physical changes.”

Where there currently are meters, you’ll still be able to use them, or you can opt for the texting system. It likely will replace the city’s app, but for now they’re all options.

“We know text-to-park is smoother and faster,” Nelson said.

Additionally, the fact that the parking team can monitor from a vehicle helps cut down on walking.

As downtown expands north and east, “we’re adding miles of potential walking and distance between those areas, so it’s really an efficiency upgrade,” Nelson said.

At Cherapa Place, a similar system is being implemented for surface lot spaces around the development. It’s being managed by an outside company and also includes scanning a QR code or texting a number to pay.

While visiting the development, guests can go into the lobby of the original Cherapa building and scan to receive two hours free. The app will notify when additional time is needed.

“And the first 15 minutes are free to give you time to go inside and scan,” said Abbie Coffey, director of operations for Pendar Properties.

Other tenants also are choosing to offer their own code to cover a guest’s entire parking cost, she said.

“It’s active right now, though they’re still hiring someone to monitor it day in and day out,” Coffey said. “Our team has been watching it in the meantime.”

For now, they’re also issuing warnings, but the vehicle could be towed after a third notice. Once ticketing starts, it will be a $30 fine.

Spaces on Reid Place won’t require signing in through the app, but parking will be limited to two hours, and spaces will be monitored.

The ramp that serves Cherapa Place has text-to-park on the main level and credit card usage on the upper levels. The first two hours there are free, too, and your credit card especially “is kind of your ticket,” and it’s swiped when you go in and out of the ramp, Coffey said.

“Out front at Cherapa will have three to five spaces noted as senior parking to accommodate our senior friends,” she added. “We know sometimes the technology is a little scary, and it’s different and new. If they’re only going to be here two hours, we’re not going to waste time logging them in to get the two hours for free, so this is a way to be supportive of them.”