BATON ROUGE - The City-Parish has finally signed a contract for a new street parking system in downtown Baton Rouge. The first shipment of parking kiosks have arrived and could be installed as soon as next month.

The agreement, signed last month with Parkeon/Flowbird Urban Intelligence, was put on hold during the pandemic until the City-Parish received a product shipment date. When that date was received last month, the contract was signed.

So far, 24 solar-powered kiosks have arrived in Baton Rouge and more are coming. There will be a total of 100 stationed around downtown. Visitors will be able to enter their license plate number to secure their parking spot and pay with a credit card or on an app. They will not take coins.

Chief Administrative Officer Darryl Gissel says the new meters could generate about $750,000 a year, which is a big difference from what the meters generate now. It will also be easier to enforce violations.

"It's much easier to ticket a vehicle now. With the app, you'll be able to roll down the street on a scooter and basically check all the cars to see which ones are in violation," Gissel said.

Gissel says there is still a lot to learn, but the rollout will start soon.