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Parking Smart Cards

These cards allow you to fill a meter and, before leaving your parking spot, receive a refund for unused time. They alleviate the need to carry change and to guess how long you'll be away from your car. Parking Smart Cards are available for purchase at several downtown locations:


 City of Victoria - Public Service Desk

The initial cost of the card is $30, which includes $25 worth of parking plus $5 for the card. The cards are refillable once empty and, at that time, between $20 and $50 can be added to the card. They can be used to purchase time at any one of the 90-minute downtown parking meters.

How to use Parking Smart Cards

Putting Time on a Meter:

  • Insert the card firmly into the parking meter slot with the chip side facing up.
  • Parking meter display will indicate the remaining card value.
  • Parking meter display will start charging the card by increments of ten minutes. A minimum of ten minutes must be purchased.
  • Remove the card when the desired length of time has been put on the meter

Recovering Remaining Time from a Meter:

  • When ready to leave, insert the card firmly into the parking meter card slot with the chip side facing up.
  • When the meter display shows "REF" (the meter has recognized your card), it will credit each unused minute increment. (For example, if you come back with 20 minutes remaining on the meter, you would get a credit for 50 cents.)
  • Remove the card.
Important: If you leave your parking spot without recovering any remaining time, your card will still be charged for the unused time available at that parking meter.

 

New City Parking Card

The new pay stations will automatically debit the maximum time of the zone from a parking card; before returning to your vehicle, simply insert your card into any pay station and you will be refunded unused time.

To use the new City parking card at any computerized on-street pay station:

  1. Enter four-digit space number
  2. Press green button
  3. Insert parking card
  4. Press green button
  5. Remove card
  6. Take receipt

To refund unused time:

  1. When ready to leave, insert card into pay station
  2. Press green button
  3. Remove card
  4. Take receipt
Important: The new pay stations will automatically debit the maximum time of the zone from your parking card.  Before returning to your vehicle, simply insert your card into any pay station and you will be refunded the unused time.