Could it be? An act of mercy from the Philadelphia Parking Authority?

On the eve of a scheduled 50 percent hike in Center City meter rates, the authority announced yesterday that it will keep the cost at $2 an hour in most spots and even reduce it to $1.50 on dozens of outlying blocks.

The move is not motivated by goodwill toward motorists - or, the agency insisted, by a desire to burnish its tarnished image.

Rather, the agency said it would hold off raising the meter rate to $3 an hour because of the surprisingly large number of metered spots that have opened up on many of the busiest streets.

Last year, open parking spots were rare in Center City. In the heart of downtown, an average of just 2 percent of metered spaces were available at any given time, according to Parking Authority studies.

"We had people circling blocks 20 times to find $1-an-hour parking spots, which they would stay in all day. We had virtually no turnover," said Rina Cutler, Mayor Nutter's deputy mayor for transportation.

In the view of the Parking Authority and the Nutter administration, the lack of parking was creating traffic congestion and frustrating would-be patrons of Center City businesses.

So in January, the authority doubled its Center City rate to $2 an hour, hoping to free up more on-street parking.

It worked.

The vacancy rate has risen to 17 percent in Center City's core and to 46 percent in blocks surrounding Center City.

"The rate hike was about parking management, about reducing congestion and freeing spaces up for people to shop. We've done that, so for now we don't need higher prices," said Vincent Fenerty, the Parking Authority's executive director.

Indeed, there are so many open spots on Center City's fringe - east of Fourth Street, west of 20th Street, between Arch and Spring Garden Streets, and between Locust and Bainbridge Streets - that the hourly rate on most of those blocks will be cut to $1.50.

"You want to strike a balance. You want people to be able to find parking, but you don't want to set prices so high you create a ghost town," Cutler said.

The city does not stand to lose any income because of the Parking Authority's decision, but it will cost the School District of Philadelphia "several million dollars," Fenerty said. The city and district split parking profits, with the city taking its cut first and the schools receiving the amount left over ($3.8 million this fiscal year).

Today, the Parking Authority also will begin a month-long replacement of Center City meters with kiosks that accept credit cards, debit cards, and paper money rather than just a fistful of quarters.

The machines, like those near City Hall and Headhouse Square, will give the agency the flexibility to adjust rates quickly and remotely, reacting to vacancy changes block by block.

The state-run Parking Authority has long been Philadelphia's largest bank of patronage jobs, and in recent years has been the target of newspaper reports that highlighted unusually high executive salaries, generous consulting contracts, and other questionable practices.

Fenerty said the agency had trimmed its costs and become leaner since those reports. This month, City Controller Alan Butkovitz is expected to release a long-awaited audit of the authority.

Recently, the agency's starring role in the A&E reality series Parking Wars has attracted unwanted attention from city tourism officials, who say it is doing serious damage to Philadelphia's image.

But Fenerty said persistent public-relations problems had not played a role in the agency's decision to forgo higher rates.

"This is about parking management," he said, "nothing else."

Contact staff writer Patrick Kerkstra at 215-854-2827 or pkerkstra@phillynews.com.