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
- 1.1 Security issues
2 Operation
3 Alternatives
4 Modern advances
5 Media
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

A more modern Parking Meter with a digital display

The parking meter was invented in 1935 by Carl C. Magee ^[1] in Oklahoma City, OK. 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 '80s. 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.

The first parking meter in the UK was installed on the 10th June, 1958 in Grosvenor Square, London by Parkeon. 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]

In the mid '80s, a digital version was introduced, replacing the mechanical parts with electronic components: boards, keyboards and displays. This allowed more flexibility to the meter, as an EEPROM chip can be reconfigured more easily than corresponding mechanical components.

By the beginning of the '90s, 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] Security issues

Parking meters 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 cut-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 heavier poles in 2000.^{[citation needed]}

[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 locations allow payment by mobile phone (to remotely record payments for subsequent checking and enforcement). A dial or display on the meter indicates the time remaining.

In many cities, all parking meters are designed to use only one type of coin. Use of other coins will fail to register, and the meter may cease to function altogether. For example, in Hackensack, New Jersey all parking meters are designed for quarters only.

Some newer parking meters have 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.^{[citation needed]} 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 time, or for a "good samaritan" to pay for more parking on the driver's behalf (sometimes called "feeding the meter").

[edit] Alternatives

This article or section deals primarily with the United States and does not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.

In the American states of Virginia and Massachusetts, individuals with disabled parking privileges do not need to pay parking meters. In some other states handicapped parking meters exist, but must be paid at the same rate as regular meters. Even after having sufficiently paid for parking, one will still be subject to receiving a violation ticket if a valid handicap license plate or placard is not displayed on the vehicle.

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

More modern parking meters are generically called multispace meters (as opposed to single space meters) and control multiple spaces per block (typically 8-12) or lot (unlimited). Whilst with these meters the parker may have to walk several car lengths to the meter, there are significant benefits in terms of customer service, performance and efficiency. Multispace meters incorporate more customer-friendly features such as on-screen instructions and acceptance of credit cards for payment -- no longer do drivers have to have pockets full of coins or risk a parking ticket. They also have many performance benefits that keep them performing better. While they still may be prone to coin jams and other types of vandalism, most of these meters are wireless and can report problems immediately to maintenance staff, who can then fix the meters so that they are not out of service for very long.

There are generally two types of multispace meters: pay and display and pay by space. With pay and display meters the driver parks, goes to the meter to pay, but must walk back to their vehicle and place a receipt on their dashboard to prove that they have paid. With pay by space meters, the driver parks in a space, goes to the meter and enters their space number and payment, but does not have to walk back to their vehicle as there is no receipt -- the meter remembers which spaces are paid and unpaid.

Generally the pay and display meters are more expensive to buy and operate because they have a printer, consume paper, and draw more power to operate. Pay by space meters are less expensive to purchase and operate, as they have no moving parts or paper consumables, but cities do have to mark each space with a space number.

Pay by space meters require less resources for cities to enforce, as parking enforcement staff do not have to look in every car window for a valid receipt. This can be a significant consideration for cities when they evaluate the two types of multi-space meters.

Single Space Parking Meter with Credit Card Capability

Today, the most recent advance in parking meters has been the integration of credit card payment and wireless communication technology into a single space meter, while still offering traditional coin payment methods. These new features provide an additional and popular payment option for motorists, and increase meter management options via wireless data for municipalities and law enforcement.

Other advances with parking meters include vehicle detection technology, which allows the pay by space meters to know when there is a car parked in a space. This opens the door for benefits for both motorists and parking managers, including providing way-finding (directing drivers to unoccupied spaces via the web or via street signs), enabling remote violation detection, and gathering vital statistics about parking supply and demand.

Another alternative to the traditional parking meter is the use of personal parking meters (in-car meters), 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. Another technology offers the possibility of reloading money (parking time) to the device via a secure Internet site.

New York City retired its last spring-loaded, single-space, 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.

[edit] Media

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 parking meters while drunk.