TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – In Traverse City, even parking your car is becoming a technological adventure. Just ask the business owners along Randolph Street, where the city has replaced free two-hour parking with a 90-day paid-parking experiment that has some merchants wondering whether their customers will bother stopping at all.
About a dozen green pay-to-park signs have appeared along one block of businesses between Division and Cedar streets. No parking meters. No pay stations. Just signs directing drivers to pay using the ParkMobile app, text message or phone.
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Apparently, finding a parking spot is only half the challenge. Now customers have to figure out how to pay for it – if they even notice the signs, which are spaced about 100 feet apart from one another.
Got a Flip Phone? Good Luck.
Slabtown Barber Shop owner Matt Dohm told the Traverse City Ticker that some of his older customers aren’t exactly equipped for the city’s digital parking experiment.
“I had two guys in here a week ago that had flip phones. They sure don’t have ParkMobile,” Dohm said. “A couple of our guys literally don’t even have credit cards. They’re 90 years old.”
Dohm worries customers will take their business elsewhere rather than deal with parking apps, payment hassles and potential tickets.
Other business owners, including those at The Dairy Lodge, Artful Interiors and Hair Code Salon, have expressed similar frustrations. Many say they weren’t consulted before the changes and they also fear losing customers who previously enjoyed convenient free parking.
Who Ordered the Parking Makeover?
Michigan News Source contacted the city to find out exactly who authorized the change. Deputy City Manager Valarie Handy confirmed that City Manager Benjamin Marentette signed Traffic Control Order 763 on May 21, 2026, following a May 14 recommendation from the city’s Transportation Committee.
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Property owners were notified by mail July 23, and signs were installed August 18. The change did not require a separate City Commission vote to begin the trial.
According to Handy, the experiment concludes November 16, when the City Commission may decide to make the paid parking permanent.
Congestion or Cash Grab?
Traverse City Parking & Mobility Director Nicole VanNess told The Ticker that the change was intended to address congestion and encourage vehicle turnover rather than generate revenue. She said parking rates were deliberately set below standard city rates and that revenue might not even cover implementation costs.
As for the missing meters? The city doesn’t want to install permanent equipment before determining whether paid parking will stay.
Meanwhile, business owners are left wondering why a parking problem that previously required nothing more than watching the clock now requires customers to navigate a payment system.
Want to Complain? There’s an Email for That.
The city says public feedback will help determine whether the experiment becomes permanent. Residents, customers and business owners can send comments directly to parkinginfo@traversecitymi.gov.
The deadline to make your feelings known is approaching, with the trial scheduled to end November 16.
And for customers still carrying flip phones? Fortunately, sending an old-fashioned email from a computer remains an option.
