I got a chance yesterday to use the credit-card accepting parking meters currently being trialed in Newton Highlands. Anybody else use them? What did you think?
As somebody who rarely carries change, what a convenience. They are very easy to use.
A picture of the trial notice sandwich board after the jump.
Sean – I didn’t know you needed to use parking meters for your bike 😉
A few weeks ago, I saw a woman studying the meter in front of Walnut Market on Lincoln Street, trying to figure it out. She got into her car, did a U-turn and parked in front of Lincoln Street Coffee where they had yet to install the new meters.
No idea what her issue was.
I saw them when I biked over there the other day. Looked nice, but as pointed out above, the bike locks are still free.
As is parking a short walk away, 2 hours free.
“As is parking a short walk away, 2 hours free.”
Which is, actually, ideal. The prime spaces are just a little bit more than the less prime spaces. If the city gets the pricing just right, enough people will be willing to pay the prime rate to keep them mostly filled. But, the availability of less costly parking nearby will keep a few of the prime spaces empty. If you want a prime space and are willing to pay for it, you’ll always be able to find one.
Successful implementation of market-based, variable pricing is very merchant-friendly: high turnover and reliable availability of prime spaces.
Why not use simple meters and let people pay with their phones? Alerted when the meter will run out on their phone, where the car is located. etc etc.
Great idea Keith. But how does the City serve the few folks without cell phones?
I need to do more investigating, but it appears that pay-by-phone is a service that is independent of the meter technology. So, in response to ad’s question, the city continues to serve those folks the way they do now.
As much as I like the idea of pay-by-phone, the credit card meters offer convenience to more than just smart phone users and also offer a great opportunity to collect parking data. The best solution would be credit card meters plus pay-by-phone.