Its official. You can now park anywhere in Downtown Davenport for free.

Initially, the city covered meters with bags north of 5th Street as free 24 hour parking.  Then last week, the Davenport City Council approved 2 hour free parking in the core of downtown.  The core is considered the are between River Drive to 5th Street, and from Iowa to Scott Street.

Parking enforcement officers finished bagging all of the meters Wednesday night, and within the first few hours of free 2 hour parking, officers already see a difference.

Officer Jackie Lawson says, "They like this free parking thing, there are more cars, about three times more than usual."

That's exactly what parking system supervisor Eric West wants.  "Take advantage. You don't have to feed the meter any more.  We want to see you downtown enjoying what downtown has to offer."

Free parking may be more convenient for drivers, but it's more work for the parking enforcement officer.

"They used to just walk by and see a flashing meter and know it was expired and write it.  Now they have to mark every plate, everything electronically," said West.

The machine keeps track of the vehicle license plate number, knows how long the car has been there and where it was parked.

"Once they have been there two hours they have to go to a different block.  You can't just do musical parking spots."           

Otherwise you'll get a ticket. Lawson tells us, the fine is different now too, "the one for the meter was only $8 if you paid within 7 days. This one is $15 because it's a different violation."

City leaders say the process will take some getting used to, but in the end they think the changes will be worth it. The parking supervisor says they will evaluate the new system in 3 months and see what works and what doesn't to make further changes.