Feeding a new meter

Beverly Hills and West Hollywood are teaming up for a new generation of high-tech parking meters. They take credit cards (which given the price of parking is a major step forward):

The cities of Beverly Hills and West Hollywood today began testing solar-powered parking meters that allow motorists to use coins or credit cards. The FlexPay Parking Meters are being tested in Beverly Hills along the east side of the 300 block of North Canon Drive and in West Hollywood on the west side of the 1000 block of La Brea Avenue. According to officials from both cities, the FlexPay meters will use existing poles and will blend in with the traditional meters. But they will be clearly identifiable as FlexPay meters and offer step-by-step instructions for people using credit cards. The meters use encryption technology to protect credit card numbers. "The encryption technology used is the same as used by banks and credit cards," Beverly Hills Mayor Jimmy Delshad said. "All the transactions are very safe. Nobody knows your credit card number and nobody can mishandle that." Each meter will include a hotline number for people who run into troubles with the machines, which are monitored by city officials using wireless connections. (CNS)

Comments

[Kate]

Will they work better than the last set of solar meters Beverly Hills put in?

[MECapron]

Get rid of ugly meters. Combine meters, car navigation devices, and City Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to produce The Guide Meter.

The Guide Meter would guide you to the nearest open parking spot. It would allow businesses, churches, schools, and individuals to "rent" their private parking by the minute, when they don't need their parking spots.

The Guide Meter is one of several concepts for "Electronics Applied to Transportation." See GuardianAngelCars.org, FAQ, for more details.

[Cahwyguy - Daniel]

The City of Berkeley has had meter devices (or devices that issue parking permits for the equivalent of metered spaces) for a while. I recall they were quite easy to use the last time I was up there.