Parking meter
|
A traditional style parking meter |
A
parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to park a
vehicle in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by
municipalities as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street parking policy, usually related to their traffic and mobility management policies.
The Parking meter concept was invented by
Carl Magee. The world's first installed parking meter was in
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on
July 16,
1935. Industrial production started in 1936 and expanded until the mid 80's. The first models were based on a coin acceptor, a dial to engage the mechanism and a visible pointer and flag to indicate expiration of payed period.
This configuration lasted for more than 40 years, only with a few changes on the exterior design, like the double headed version and the incorporation of new materials and production techniques. Also, the parking meter aspect changed troughout the various decades along the design trends of street furniture.
In the mid 80's, a digital version was introduced, replacing the mechanical parts by electronic components: boards, keyboards and displays. This added various new possibilities to the meter, like programing various and complex tariffs into an
EEPROM memory chip that could easily be replaced, as well as accepting payments with more than one coin.
In the beginning of the 90's, the parking meter had sold millions of units around the world, but the market was already looking into new solutions, like the collective
pay and display machines and new forms of
payment that appeared along with
electronic money and communication technologies. As a result, the parking meter industry has entered a period of decline and is now limited to a very narrow market.
Parking meters are usually relatively small boxes attached to the top of a sturdy metal pole.
Parking meters are usually seen along the curb of a
street, but are sometimes used within
parking garages as well.
Parking meters have started to evolve in many other cities in world. Montreal is converting their mechanical parking Meters to a digital system powered by Linux. The traditional meters have been replaced with numbered posts. When parking, customers must remember the number they parked at, find a paystation and either pay with change, or credit cards. Parking enforcement also use a GPRS based handheld system to see which parking spots are parked in and which have been payed for.
Security issues
They are exposed to the
elements and to
vandals so protection of the device and its
cash contents is a priority.
Some cities have learned the hard way that these machines must be upgraded regularly to keep up with the creativity of vandals. In
Berkeley, California, the "chopped off" remains of meter poles were a common sight during the late
1990s, and parking was largely free (and chaotic) throughout the city until the government installed digital parking meters with very thick poles in 2000.
By inserting
coins into a
currency detector slot or swiping a
credit card or
smartcard into a slot, and turning a handle (or pressing a key), a timer is set within the meter. Some places allow payment by
mobile phone (to remotely record payments for subsequent checking and enforcement). A dial or display on the meter indicates how much time is remaining.
In many cities, all parking meters are designed to use only one coin. If you try to use other coins, the meters will not work and may cease to function altogether. For example, in
Hackensack, New Jersey all parking meters are designed for
quarters only.
Some newer parking meters are equipped with a sensor that can determine when a parking space has been vacated. Once this happens, any remaining time on the meter resets to zero, forcing the next driver to pay the full price for parking his car. This feature can also be used to enforce maximum parking times by requiring that the parking space be vacated before allowing any additional time to be purchased. This makes it more difficult for the driver to simply return and purchase additional parking time, or for a "good samaritan" to pay for more parking on the driver's behalf (sometimes referred to as "feeding the meter").
In some localities, such as
Virginia, individuals with
disabled parking privileges do not need to pay parking meters.
Alternatives to parking meters are
pay and display machines (for dashboard display of proof of payment until a certain hour) and machines to accept and electronically record payment by stall number, (known in
New York City as the
Muni Meter). An experimental program in
Houston, Texas was introduced in response to a revised city ordinance for Saturday-enforced metered parking.
New meters, like those from
IntelliPark in Bethesda MD, feature sonar-based vehicle detection. These meters zero out the time on a meter when a car exits a space and won't allow parkers to meter feed when they have exceeded the time aloted for a space.
Vehicle Detection also proveds important statistics useful in setting rates, fines and managing parking inventory.
In the introductory scene of the
1967 film
Cool Hand Luke, Lucas "Luke" Jackson, played by
Paul Newman, is sent to a prison camp for cutting the heads off of parking meters while drunk.
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Decriminalised Parking Enforcement*
Pay and display*
Parking attendant* -
Coin controlled parking meter*
The Parking Meter Page*
Articles from the Wausau Daily Herald*
Metergate from the SF Times (archived)
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Brink's 1978 parking meter theft*
Parking meter payment by cell phone from Slashdot, June 26, 2006
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Voice Of America Video
