Parking meter

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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.

1 History
2 Design
- 2.1 Security issues
3 Operation
4 Alternatives
5 Modern Advances
6 Trivia
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

[edit] History

The parking meter concept was invented by Carl Magee.^[1] The world's first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on July 16, 1935.^[2] ^[3] 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 paid period.

This configuration lasted for more than 40 years, with only a few changes in the exterior design, like the double-headed version and the incorporation of new materials and production techniques. Also, the parking meter aspect changed throughout 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.

By the beginning of the 90's, millions of parking meter units had been sold 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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Design

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 cities. 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 pay station and pay either with change or a credit card. Parking enforcement also uses a GPRS based handheld system to see which parking spots are occupied and which have been paid for.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Operation

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").

[edit] Alternatives

In the American states of Virginia and Massachusetts, individuals with disabled parking privileges do not need to pay parking meters. In other states, handicapped parking meters exist; these still need to be paid at the same rate as surrounding meters, but will result in a parking ticket for those without a valid handicap license plate or placard.

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.

[edit] Modern Advances

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 alloted for a space.

Vehicle Detection also provides important statistics useful in setting rates, fines and managing parking inventory.

New York City retired its last spring-loaded mechanical parking meter at 10:25 a.m. on December 20, 2006. It was located at the southwest corner of West 10th Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island. “The world changes. Just as the token went, now the manual meter has gone,” said Iris Weinshall, the city’s transportation commissioner, at a small ceremony marking the occasion, the New York Times reported. The new digital meters, which now account for all of the city's 62,000 single-space parking meters, are more accurate and more difficult to break into.

Another alternative to the traditional parking meter is the use of personal parking meters (in-car meter). Small mobile devices that are purchased by the motorist, with a pre-paid parking bank used by the motorist to pay for on-street parking fees. The most advanced technology, such as those designed by Ganis Systems Ltd. offer the possibility of reloading money (parking time) to the device via a specially designed secure Internet site. Easy and convenient for the motorist, hassle free for the authorities.

[edit] Trivia

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.
In 1960, New York City hired its first crew of "meter maids", all were women. It was not until 1967 that the first man was hired.

^[4]