From a press release this week:

ALBANY – The Albany Parking Authority (APA) today announced it will begin installing 33 additional multi-space parking meters to expand on-street parking options downtown. The new solar powered meters extend the 2-hour parking limit to 10 hours. The meters accept credit and debit card payments using Visa, MasterCard, and Discover in addition to accepting coins, and run on a gradually increasing rate structure.
“The next phase of our plan to update downtown parking will create even more convenient parking in the downtown entertainment district, not to mention improving the overall look of the street scape,” said Michael Klein, Executive Director of the Albany Parking Authority. “With the addition of these meters, the on-street parking system will include 70 solar powered multi-space meters regulating access at 604 parking spaces in downtown Albany.”
The installation of the new meters commence January 10, it’s expected to take about 1 week, but is weather dependent. The 33 new solar powered multi-space parking meters will take the place of 262 old “lollipop” meters near downtown Albany’s Entertainment District along Pearl Street, Broadway, James Street, Beaver Street, Green Street, Hudson Ave, Howard Street, Lodge Street, Pine Street, Eagle Street, Van Tromp Street, and Columbia Street. The replaced meter’s poles will remain until weather permits removal, but all mechanisms will be removed and marked to identify they’re inactive.
The Albany Parking Authority began first installing the new meters in June 2011, bringing 12 new meters to State Street as an initial pilot project. That change was well-received by the public, and as a result a second phase added 25 additional “smart” meters near the Capitol and along Washington Avenue about six months later.
After parking their car, drivers will go to a nearby multi-space parking meter to purchase their desired amount of time, take their receipt, and then place it on the passenger side of their dashboard. The Albany Parking Authority urges the public to place the receipts face-up on the passenger side of the dashboard so that Public Safety officers do not have to enter the roadway to check them.
For the convenience of those who drive motorcycles or convertibles, the APA has located and purchased receipt/permit display devices to secure the receipts, and offers them to the public at below market prices.