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Heading to Great Smoky Mountains National Park? Why you’ll need a parking tag and when you can skip it

Liz Kellar

Knoxville News Sentinel
Published 3:16pm E.T. March 28, 2024

As would-be visitors start checking their calendars and planning their trips to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, there’s one pesky issue they need to keep in mind: parking.

In March 2023, a new parking fee was put in place, meaning drivers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park must pay $5 for a daily tag.

According to park authorities, the new tag program has helped generate over $10 million in recreation fee revenue since last year. That hefty chunk of change will pay for 25 more park rangers, better maintained roads and facilities, as well as a plan for more parking spots, the park said.

But actually complying with the Park it Forward program can be confusing − so Knox News has put together a guide to help.

To read the full story, please click here.

First day of new Metra fares sees long lines at downtown terminal ticket machines
While Metra’s new fare system and ticket machines have some predictable learning curves, hopefully more customers will soon get accustomed to to using them.
By Igor Studenkov
8:08 PM CST on February 2, 2024

As rush hour crowds hurried to catch the trains at the Ogilvie Transportation Center concourse on late Thursday afternoon, two long lines slowly extended in the opposite direction.

The situation wasn’t quite as bad at the other three downtown terminals – Chicago Union Station, LaSalle Station and Millennium Station – but it was still not the most auspicious way to kick off the first day of Metra’s new fare system. As the new fares kicked in, the commuter railroad shut down all of the remaining ticket windows, so that the passengers trying to buy physical tickets now have to use ticket machines.

The new fare structure replaced 10 letter fare zones with four numbered ones. In a major change, your trip doesn’t involve one of the downtown terminals, the fares don’t go up based on distance. Metra also got rid of 10-ride tickets and all system-wide passes except weekend passes.

To read the full story, please click here.

2023 A Look Back: Meter Maid Award
Written by SMN staff
Wednesday, December 27, 2023

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has earned this one for its decision to begin charging for parking, effective March 1 this year.

The parking tag program was extremely controversial in communities surrounding the park, with the governments of all six surrounding counties and the N.C. House of Representatives issuing formal statements in opposition. Since it was established in 1934, the park has always been free to enter and visit. Legislation and deed restrictions prevent the park from charging an entrance fee, but rapidly increasing visitation combined with stagnant federal funding meant the park needed another revenue source to do its job well.

The new fee represents a monumental change in park policy but has received high levels of support. Of those who commented on the proposal, 51% were in favor and only 15% were opposed. However, of commenters who lived in one of the park’s six neighboring counties, 25% were opposed and only 25% were in favor.

To read the full story, please click here.

Edmonton transit goes to full-time Arc fares starting Wednesday, decommissions older machines
Craig Ellingson
CTVNewsEdmonton.ca Journalist
Published

Tuesday is the last day for the Edmonton Transit Service’s old-style vending machines.

The longtime mainstays for dispensing paper tickets will be decommissioned on Wednesday in favour of Arc fare machines at select transit centres across the city, including all LRT stations.

Arc fare vending machines dispense single-use tickets and reloadable cards and accept payment by cash, debit or credit cards. The older vending machines, which accepted only cash, will be turned off until ETS can remove and replace them with Arc machines, according to a recent media release.

Signage at stations will indicate which machines are no longer in use and will direct transit riders to the nearest Arc machine.

Fare products that were available in the machines being replaced, including paper tickets, are still available at ETS sales outlets and online through the ETS store. Paper-ticket validating machines also remain at various transit stations.

To read the full story, please click here.

Major changes to Metra ticketing set to begin this week

By NBC Chicago Staff • •

Attention Metra riders: there will be some big changes starting this week with how you purchase and use your train tickets.

The changes are set to take effect on Feb. 1, with many ticket windows closing, new vending machines installed and the elimination of certain purchasing options.

The main change will be ticket windows closing on all of the railway agency’s lines. According to Metra, windows already closed on BNSF lines by Jan. 8, and all remaining ticket windows, including those at downtown Chicago stations, will shutter on Feb. 1.

Vending machines have been placed at the busiest stops impacted by the decision, with riders encouraged to use the Ventra app on their mobile devices.

To read the full story, please click here.

Metra overhauling fares, eliminating ticket windows

The transit agency is changing ticket prices Feb. 1, reducing zones from 10 to 4 and cutting 10-ride passes.

By David Struett and Phyllis Cha
Jan 3, 2024, 3:01pm PDT

Big changes are coming to Metra over the coming weeks as the commuter rail agency introduces a new fare structure February 1st.

Metra is overhauling ticket prices, reducing zones from 10 to 4, eliminating 10-ride passes, and closing the rest of its ticketing windows.

The new fee structure, approved by Metra’s board in November, is meant to simplify pricing and attract new riders. Like many transit agencies, Metra is facing a potential crisis with federal COVID-19 funds expiring in 2026.

Monica Carroll, 63, rides Metra three times a week to commute to Chase Tower in the Loop from her home in north suburban Antioch, about 50 miles from Chicago. She said she’s bought the monthly pass since she started her job a year and a half ago, because it was the most affordable option for her at $100.

To read the full story, please click here.

Mark Twain Lake installs new fee machines
By Logan Williams
Published: May. 9, 2022 at 3:46 PM PDT

RALLS COUNTY, Mo. (WGEM) – As the weather warms and more people flock to Mark Twain Lake, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has made some changes.

One of those changes was the installation of new automated fee collection machines.

The machines are card only, and are located at the visitor center, the shooting range and various recreation areas such as: Ray Behrens, Robert Allen, Indian Creek, and John F. Spalding.

Army Corps Natural Resource Specialist Alex Threlkeld said the machines were implemented in lieu of the pandemic.

“Coming out of COVID we tried to reduce human contact between one another, and this was an advantageous means of providing this service to our visitors, making it easy, making it convenient and so far it has worked out very well,” said Threlkeld.

To read the full story, please click here.

‘Iron Rangers’ Give Way to Modern-day Fee Collections Options

ROCK ISLAND, IL, UNITED STATES

05.02.2022

Story by Samantha Heilig

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District

For many years, the ‘Iron Ranger’ was a primary fee collection method for recreation areas across the county. These locked metal cases with small slits in the side for depositing cash payment envelopes, were commonly used at boat ramps, campgrounds and beaches where reservations were not required and onsite fee attendants were not available. This recreation season, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, has introduced two new fee payment methods to replace those Iron Rangers and make fee payment easier for recreational users.

Self-serve payment machines and mobile apps, which only accept credit or debit card payments, are now the only method of payment for use at select boat ramps, beaches and even a few campgrounds found throughout the District. No cash, coins or checks will be accepted at these sites.

To read the full story, please click here.

Automated Fee Machines Installed at Lake Red Rock

Posted By: Andrew Schneider  April 14, 2022 @ 4:47 am

New this year, Lake Red Rock has installed automated fee machines at all US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)-managed boat launches and beaches. Those using the services can follow any onscreen instructions, insert a debit or credit card, and display a ticket/receipt on the dashboard of their vehicle. Cash and checks are not accepted.

America the Beautiful Senior, Access, and Military passes, Every Kid in a Park Passes, and USACE annual day use passes are still accepted at beaches and boat ramps. Visitors should make sure to have a pass visible on their rearview mirror or on their vehicle’s dashboard.

Day use fees are collected and enforced at boat launches from April 1st through September 30th and at beaches from Memorial Day weekend thru Labor Day weekend.

To read the full story, please click here.

Cash is no longer king at Nashville District lakes
By Heather King
Nashville District Public Affairs
Published March 7, 2022

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (March 7, 2022) – There is an old saying, “cash is king.” Times are changing, and cash isn’t king anymore.

Across the nation, COVID – 19 is changing the way businesses interact with consumers. As an effort to reduce contact between people, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, passed in March 2020, mandates a move toward cashless payment systems. Visitors to the eight lakes within the Nashville District will see these changes implemented at the beginning of the 2022 recreation season.

In preparation for the 2022 recreation season, the Nashville District installed 19 VenTek cashless pay machines across Lakes Barkley, Center Hill, Cheatham, Cordell Hull, Cumberland, Dale Hollow, J. Percy Priest, and Old Hickory. The VenTek automation service is designed to help parks and recreational areas collect admission fees and issue passes without manning a tollbooth.

To read the full story, please click here.

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