In the next few months, drivers coming to East Lansing's downtown parking facilities are going to be greeted with an electronic computer rather than a parking attendant.

More than $1 million worth of computerized parking equipment has been ordered to replace the city's existing technology by July.

The new equipment will offer drivers the option of paying with credit cards and city-issued debit cards, along with more options for short-term permits.

"It's just the way the industry's going," East Lansing Parking Administrator Dan O'Connor said. "If you go down to Chicago, you won't find a human attendant in any of their garages — it's all automated."

Wixom-based Traffic & Safety Control Systems Inc. will install the equipment during the first week of March.

Officials then will spend the next three months converting the old technology. During that time, all permit cards will be replaced for the equipment, and the city also will revamp the validation system for downtown businesses, O'Connor said.

The equipment will be available in all of the city's garages and the Albert Avenue lot, but prices for downtown parking will not change, he added.

The new technology also means less jobs for would-be parking attendants. Attendants who are stationed at one of two exits at every lot will be replaced by a machine, O'Connor said.

"There's a lot of turnover in June, so as people leave, we just won't hire back," he said. "Nobody's job will be eliminated."

He added that the city employs at least 40 attendants, and it will save about $40,000 annually in labor costs with the computerized equipment.

Rather than replacing all human attendants, the city will still employ one at each exit, O'Connor said.

"I still like the concept of having a human being in the garage to help people," he said. "We'll still have that human contact; we value that with our customers."

Drivers' opinions vary on whether the equipment would affect downtown parking.

"It would benefit the people who have to sit in that little box all day and take the tickets," said Carli Zeman, a communicative sciences and disorders senior. "It wouldn't be much of a difference for drivers."

But some drivers said the equipment would be welcomed for its convenience.

"It'd be easier and faster," education sophomore Ashley Thomas said.

Lansing resident Paula Ludwick, 38, has worked as an East Lansing parking attendant for five years and said she's excited for the change.

"I can't wait to see what we get," Ludwick said. "It's something new and different that's going to get people in and out of here faster."

But even with an electronic counterpart moving in, Ludwick isn't worried about job security.

"We're always going to need people to fix them and make sure they're working properly," she said.