What Happened?
If you live in Santa Monica, you can forget about prowling the streets looking for parking meters with time left. The city of Santa Monica is installing more than 6,000 state-of-the-art parking sensors and meters, which—among other things—reset parking meters when spaces are vacated. The new meters are expected to add $1.7 million to the city’s coffers.
How?
The system utilizes sensors that are embedded underground. The sensors detect when a parked vehicle vacates its spot. At that point, the meter is reset for the next vehicle.
Benefits
Convenience and revenue. The new system, which includes new meters as well as the sensors, facilitates:
- Flexible Payment: Parking can be paid by credit card or coin;
- Remote Access: In a very cool feature, customers can pay by phone, and even receive text messages when the meter is about the expire; time can be added remotely, without having to return to the parking space;
- “Limit” Enforcement: Cars parked in spaces with time limits will be unable to “feed the meter”; meters will display a “max time exceeded” message that will not reset until the car is moved;
- Data Collection: The city can get real-time reports on parking space usage, which will enable the city to adjust time limits as necessary;
- Space Identification: Eventually, customers will be able to access a mobile app that directs them to available spaces, or those that are about to expire;
- Sustainable: The spaces are solar powered;
- Remote Programming: Municipal staffers can also manage the meters remotely, which enables them to program meters for specific events, upcoming construction, or other atypical events that require messaging to customers;
Of course, one of the greatest benefits for the city is enhanced revenue, as every customer will access a meter that has been reset, with no legacy time remaining from a prior customer.
More on Santa Monica
The original press release from the city is available, as is a video clip from Santa Monica’s CityTV. A commercial video overview from the vendor IPS provides some nice detail with customer interviews, and a New York Times article on Santa Monica is still online.
Additional Resources
Many other cities have deployed “smart meters,” including San Francisco with its “SFpark” system and LA’s Express Park, which already has online mapping capabilities. A case study on SFpark is also available from the Institute for Sustainable Communities. Indianapolis has also implemented a sensor-based smart parking system.
Some cities now have performance-based parking programs, like in Washington, D.C., where pricing fluctuates based on demand.