SCHENECTADY — Downtown Schenectady business owners say customers dread parking on or around State Street. City officials have made some changes that they hope will start to change that, while also shoring up more revenue for the city.
Over the past few months, the city has rolled out a new parking payment systemwhile also quietly implementing a higher hourly parking rate for certain on-street parking downtown.
City Engineer Chris Wallin said the new mobile payment system, “LAZgo,” allows parkers to pay for parking through “scan to pay” and “text to pay” options without having to download an app. Rates for downtown on-street parking have also increased from $1.50 to $2 per hour (except on State Street, which remains at its rate of $2 per hour) during enforced hours on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., he added…