What Happened?
In Canada, the Edmonton city council committee vote to implement pay-by-plate technology to manage parking meter obligations. The $12 million technology upgrade includes installing 400 new electronic pay stations and replacing 3,300 traditional parking meters by 2016.
The Goal
While the parking meter technology upgrade project will cost Edmonton $12 million upfront, the city estimates about $22 million will be generated annually in revenue, up from $15 million. The technology will then pay for itself by 2018.
The new parking meter technology requires drivers to enter their license plate number and parking area into a system. The technology can accept both cash and credit card payments, making it easier for drivers to use. The city is also able to change the price of parking throughout the day based on traffic and demand.
Edmonton will enforce the parking meter rules through the use of bylaw vehicles with cameras taking pictures of parked vehicle license plates. The system will run the license plate number through a database to see if the driver has paid for parking.
Of the annual revenue generated from the new parking meter technology, Edmonton plans to allocate $1.5 million of the surplus toward the $480 million area constructed in the downtown area.
Chicago
Chicago is notorious for having privatized its parking meter obligations several years ago in exchange for one lump sum of cash that angered many residents. This past spring, the city announced the private vendor in charge of the parking meters now offers drivers a mobile app through which they can pay parking meter costs automatically.
The ParkChicago app allows users to add time to their parking meters remotely via their smartphones, with a timer alerting them to when their time is running out. Users can set up an account through the app with a $20 base, with no service charges when parking for more than 2 hours at a time. The mobile app payment option is one of many changes to the long-term contract the city has with the vendor, which was recently renegotiated.
Dallas
Dallas has also rolled out a more high-tech version of its parking meter technology that accepts currency, coins or credit cards. The parking meters can be operated manually, dialing a phone or using a mobile app. The five-month pilot program to test the technology will cost Dallas $100,000 to replace 15 percent of the city’s 4,000 parking meters.
Further recognizing demands for more convenient parking options, Dallas is also considering:
- A car-sharing program to provide vehicle access to residents without a car
- Wireless sensors to detect when a parking spot is available to cut down on time spent circling neighborhoods
- Multi-space parking meters for added convenience
The pilot program will test the new technologies in several neighborhoods and gauge the efficacy of the upgrades before investing in a more extensive adoption of the technology.
Making Parking A Breeze
Gov1 has kept a close eye on parking meter innovations including technology upgrades and privatization agreements.