Friday, Park Macon-Bibb put the first quarters in a meter at a news conference to show they are really working.
The meters will be active Monday through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Law enforcement will be out checking for cars that don't pay or overstay.
You can also buy a permit to park in the parking garages -- $25 for residential use and $40 for business use. There is also a parking app you can download to save your credit card information on to easily pay any meter downtown.
Some find the parking meters easier to use than others. Travis Jean boutique owner Scott Mitchell wants to give people an incentive to use the meters. "I'm trying to be proactive about parking meters so I'm offering customers who spend $20 in my store, I will validate their parking and give them their money back."
He says the parking meters haven't made customers stray away. "I've sat outside today and seen people feeding the meters like they're supposed to. People are asking questions."
Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority says the money you feed the meters goes into improving downtown. They hope to use the money they get to make more improvements to parking. The first few weeks tests out what works for the parking meters and what doesn't.
"We studied enough this is what we think the initial run ought to be, but then over time, we will make the necessary adjustments," says Macon-Bibb Urban Development Authority Executive Director Alex Morrison.
Park Macon-Bibb says there will be a grace period between ticketing while people still figure out how to use the parking meters, and ambassadors will be out in case anyone needs help using them.