The borough of State College maintains more than 1,600 parking spaces in the downtown area, said Karen Martin, parking director for the borough. More than 420 meters are on the downtown streets.

Parking meters are color coded to allow car owners to know how long they can park at the meter. Red meters allow parking for 30 minutes. Gold meters are for one to two hour parking and silver meters offer up to five hours. The rate of all meters is 60 cents per hour.

Just because the meter is fed does not mean that a person can park at a metered spot past the maximum time limit on the meter.

"We have a lot of downtown employees that think that they can park at a one hour meter for eight hours if they keep on feeding the meter," Martin said. "But they can receive a $15 ticket for overtime parking."

Parking at municipal meters is free on Thursday after 6 p.m. and free all day on Sunday.

Parking garages offer parking for those who are not able to feed the meter every few hours. There are two attended garages downtown, one on the 100 block of Fraser Street, and another on the 100 block of Pugh Street.

Parking rates for garages are 60 cents per hour for the first hour and 30 cents for each additional hour. Parking is free on Sunday unless there is a home football game or other major event. In both garages, parking is free from 1:30 a.m. until 6:30 a.m.

Permission for visitors to park on borough streets overnight can be obtained by calling the State College Police Department at 234-7150 before 10 p.m.