Rhode Island General Laws Title 31. Motor and Other Vehicles § 31-28-2. Ordinances authorizing parking meters and meter zones

(a) Any town or city council may enact ordinances authorizing the installation, operation, maintenance, policing, and supervision of parking meters on the public highways, and fix and provide for the payment of a fee for the purpose of parking by requiring the operator of any vehicle parking in the zone to deposit in the meter in the zone or adjacent to it, a coin of the United States as the council shall determine to be necessary for the purpose of regulating parking. Any fee established for parking shall bear a reasonable relation to the actual cost incurred by the town or city in the installation, operation, maintenance, policing, and supervision of the parking meter system and the parking of motor vehicles on the public highways.

(b) The commissioner of public safety for the city of Providence and the council of any other city or town may establish parking meter zones for the purpose of regulating the parking of motor vehicles on the public highways.