Over the past few months, navy blue parking signs with giant QR codes have been popping up, seemingly overnight, in high-traffic areas and vacant lots — like this one at a former Baxter Avenue gas station.

The scannable self-parking signs belong to Parking Management Company (PMC), a private parking service provider out of Nashville, TN. Its proprietary technology, PMC Pay, doesn’t require installation, equipment, or apps to collect fees — all you need is a smart phone.

Between the yellow lines

The company offers commercial lot owners its PMC Pay technology, rates, and upgrades, like fresh paint, to convert their lots into PMC Parking spaces. So far, the company manages 22 lots in Derby City — mostly in Butchertown, NuLu, and the Highlands.

PMC uses ambassadors to audit its lots and keep parkers honest. Unlike traditional paid parking services, the company uses a conversion method that allows an unpaid parker to pay without additional fees versus a potential tow or citation.

The price tag

Pricing for a PMC space starts at around $5 for two hours with an additional $1.75 service fee, but most of its lots in Louisville range from $10.60 to $20.14.Just the ones in Louisville, or are those numbers from across the country? The rates also fluctuate based on the occupancy of the lot — so more cars means you’ll pay a prettier penny.

To compare, most of Metro’s 17 garages charge $1-$6 for parking up to two hours, while the city’s meters + pay stations cost $2.25 for the first two hours. Fun fact: You can park for free at meters adjacent to restaurants for up to 15 minutes using your flashers.

Business owners with PMC Parking can offer customers validation codes for free or discounted parking.