Politics & Government

Meter Remix: Clayton Follows Aspen and NYC with New Parking Systems

The systems have replaced traditional parking meters in cities such as Clayton; Seattle, WA; and Miami Beach, FL, Parkeon product marketing manager Sean Renn said.

While for the first time earlier this month, similar machines have been in use in the U.S. since the early 1990s.

New York City and Aspen, CO, were among the first U.S. cities to use Parkeon multi-space systems, said Sean Renn, product marketing manager at the 40-year-old company. The systems have a longer history in Europe.

The machines, which generally cost between $8,000 and $12,000 a piece, have adapted. Nearly all are solar-powered, and since the early 2000s they have included a modem that transmits information to the city governments, universities and private operators that are Parkeon's primary clients.

In addition to , cities using the multi-space systems include Seattle, WA; Miami Beach, FL; and Sacramento, CA.

Multi-space systems are chosen over traditional meters for a variety of reasons, Renn said. For one, they can increase the likelihood that drivers will pay for parking.

"It typically will increase the compliance," Renn said. That, in turn, reduces the number of tickets that parking officials hand out. Cities generally look to have 15 percent of spaces open for public use at any given time, and officials in some of them have used parking data to adjust parking rates according to supply and demand. 

The machines also take credit cards. In some cities, between 50 percent and 80 percent of transactions are made using cards, Renn said. Most people don't have enough coins for two or three hours of parking, so a card makes the process simpler.

Some cities turn the old meters into bike racks.

The internal modem alerts the responsible party when the system is broken, which decreases the amount of time a meter is down, Renn said. Fewer meters also means less maintenance per block.

Parkeon machines can have up to six languages, and receipts that drivers use as proof of payment are being used to include coupons and special messages. Ads also are a possibility in the future.


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