Parking Tech
App fights parking tickets for you
In the fiscal year 2011-2012, San Francisco collected more than $83 million in parking-ticket revenue—and that was before it installed 1,300 additional parking meters in the city, creating more opportunities for officials to ticket drivers. David Hegarty doesn’t need to hear any of this. The entrepreneur behind the new parking app Fixed knows from experience. […]
With self-parking cars, what future for valet parking?
The days of valet attendants are numbered, according to automotive technology company Valeo. Last week at the annual International Consumer Electronics Show the French business debuted remote parking and self-parking technologies that aim to do away with attendants and allow cars to park themselves. Valeo’s automated valet parking program is divided into two implementation phases, […]
How to fight parking tickets in the age of the app
Last month, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which oversees public transit for the Greater Boston area, mailed more than 27,000 notices to motorists for violations that stretched as far back as 2010. Typically, additional fees are tacked onto parking fines unpaid within the official window of time. If the ticket isn’t paid within 21 […]
Man arrested for charging his EV without permission for 20 minutes
In 2010, Georgia had one of the slowest growing economies in the United States, but this year it’s racing ahead with almost 3,000 electric vehicles. That figure makes it one of the fastest growing states for electric vehicle ownership — except the Peach State doesn’t have the infrastructure for those motorists. Just ask Kaveh Kamooneh, […]
Washington, D.C., turns to Twitter to enforce its bike lanes
The nation’s capital may have edged up another notch on Bicycling’s list of top bike-friendly cities in America with its latest enforcement effort. Coming in at fourth last year, Washington, D.C., earlier this month took to Twitter in an attempt to educate drivers about the dangers of using dedicated bike lanes as parking spaces. Reggie […]
Automated parking systems: a field guide
When Affirmed Housing Group – a low-income developer in L.A. – decided to build a parking garage for the new 60-unit Lotus Garden apartments, it was a huge challenge. To start with, the apartment’s location on a steep hill made a conventional underground garage impossible. Architects realized a semi-automated parking structure would be the perfect […]
How smart parking in Stockholm works
The fifth happiest nation in the world, according to Columbia University’s Earth Institute, also boasts a capital that has been steadily seeking to implement smart parking meters and policies. It’s not clear whether those efforts contribute to the overall happiness of Stockholm’s residents and visitors, but it’s worth examining what policies and programs the city […]
SeaPark, Seattle’s dynamic pricing system for parking, does more with less $
In 2010, the Seattle Department of Transportation introduced dynamic pricing to its parking spaces under a scheme called SeaPark. With a top spend of just $1.2 million, it has managed to achieve its goal of a 70-85 percent occupancy rate during working hours in the city’s core commercial area. Benefits of demand-responsive pricing for the public […]
Electric vehicle charging stations: Too little, too late?
Early next year, those who live and work near New York City’s Washington Square Park can expect to see workers installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the area. The stations won’t be as large and imposing as those of the past, though. In fact, they’re designed to blend with the urban environment: NY-based HEVO […]
Mobile parking app watch: PassportParking
Over the past couple of years, we’ve heard a lot about mobile parking apps, from ones that help find vacancies and keep users posted on pricing (ParkMe) to apps that tell users when their time is running out and allow them to let circling motorists know when they’re about to vacate a space. Many if […]
Phoning it in: Parkmobile’s app makes parking easy
You’re at a parking meter, running an errand, and you have to decide how many quarters to put in. You errand shouldn’t take more than three, four quarters at most. But what if you get held up and you can’t break away to feed the parking meter? Do you throw in another fifty cents just […]
