Denver switches residential parking permits to digital system, leaving some residents frustrated

Denver is switching residential parking permits from a physical system to a digital one, and the change has at least one resident concerned about privacy and convenience.

Those timed parking areas across Denver like the two-hour parking on Tennyson Street can be ignored by residents who own a residential parking permit. Residents can also get a flex parking permit to use for either themselves or a visitor.

Chris Razzazian reached out to Denver7 because those flex permits are switching to digital, and he's not happy about it.

"If I had somebody coming over to take care of my cat, or I was out of town, my parents were coming over, all I had to do is leave a parking pass on the table next to the front door, and they go put it in the car. Leave it when they're done," Razzazian said.

Under the new system, residents will have to know ahead of time when guests will be there, how long they'll be there, and their guests' vehicle information something Razzazian isn't thrilled about keeping online.

"I think a lot of people enjoy the convenience of electronic transactions and stuff like that, but it's pretty inconvenient for me because then that means I'm constantly trying to get on this portal when other people might need to use the pass," Razzazian said. "It's kind of beyond what I would want to give to a database as far as who's at my house and for how long.

I brought his concerns to Nancy Kuhn, with the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.

"The goal is to make it a better experience for people, a more positive experience, one that's flexible and easy," Kuhn said.

Kuhn said the city will not store any vehicle information once the user removes it from the permit, and that officials have already reduced the amount of information required based on resident feedback.

"We were originally requesting four pieces of information: license plate, make, model, year of car. Now we've streamlined that. We're only asking for two pieces of information: the license plate and the make of the vehicle," Kuhn said.

Kuhn also said the system will save employees time both in creating the permits and scanning them and that for most residents, it will be a more convenient system because they won't have to keep track of the physical permit anymore.

"I think for a lot of people, it'll be a welcome change. But again, we understand that it is a change, and change is never easy," Kuhn said.

The system will roll out over the next year, and soon the physical permits will no longer be valid.

"It sounds easy, but it seems like a lot of planning going into something that should be a 30-second switch," Razzazian said.

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