One of the new LUKE multi-space parking meter pay stations at Greene Square Park on Monday, Oct. 10, 2011, in southeast Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (SourceMedia Group News/Jim Slosiarek)

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Downtown District on Monday unveiled the first of 40 multi-space parking pay stations, which are replacing the traditional space-by-space, change-only parking meters on a post in the core of the downtown.

The first group of pay stations have been activated in the block around Greene Square Park and in front of the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, with others on other blocks to be added to the system in four phases over the next four to six weeks.

Parking with the pay stations — which are powered by solar panels that make them easy to spot — works this way:

Park. Note the four-digit number on the sign at your parking spot. Stop at one of the pay stations — they are generally in every block on both sides of the street — and touch the number keypad to turn on the screen. At the prompt, enter your parking space’s four-digit code. Select how long you want to park from the options on the screen. And then deposit change or insert your credit or debit card. The machine then gives you a receipt, with your parking spot number on it. You can extend the time at your parking spot at any downtown pay station by entering your number and submitting money or credit card.

By the end of the year, the Downtown District and the parking operation it manages, Park Cedar Rapids, should have an application for mobile devices in place that alerts you when your parking time is about to expire. You’ll be able to extend the time via the phone or other mobile device.