St. Augustine’s ParkNow Card is about to become a thing of the past.
Introduced in 2007 as a way to offer St. Johns County residents a discount on the cost of parking in the heart of the Nation’s Oldest City, the card has become a victim of evolving technology. The current card-reader technology is being phased out, according to the city.
On Monday, July 21, the city announced that, as of 9 p.m. Sept. 30, it would no longer accept the cards as a form of payment at city-owned pay stations, parking lots and the parking garage.
The city actually stopped recharging the cards nearly two years ago.
A replacement will be instituted in the form of a license plate registration.
“In 2023, we began this process by rolling out the license plate registration for St. Johns County residents so they could still benefit from the resident discount,” according to Assistant City Manager Reuben Franklin. “We want people who still have the ParkNow Cards to use them while they’re still good — before October 1st of this year. Once residents register their license plate online, they will no longer need the card.”
When parking in a lot or space downtown, local motorists will enter their plate numbers, once registered, at the parking kiosk to receive the discount. At the parking garage, an electronic plate reader will recognize registered plates and automatically apply the discount rate.
St. Johns County residents can register their plate numbers for the discount online at ParkStAug.com.
Those with mobile phones can download the ParkStAug app from the Apple or Google Play stores for additional mobile parking pay options. However, the app is not required to receive the discount.
For those with an unused balance on their ParkNow Cards, a full refund will be issued when the card is surrendered in person to the Parking Division, 50 Bridge St., before Dec. 29, 2028. The office is open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
To find available parking in downtown St. Augustine, go to citystaug.com/parkingfinder.
For further information, call 904-825-1090, email parking@citystaug.com or go to bit.ly/3IGyG90.
