IBM Launches Parking Meter Analytics System 111
itwbennett writes "It's not just a parking spot, think of it as a 'revenue-producing asset,' says Vinodh Swaminathan, IBM's director of intelligent transportation systems. Working with San Francisco-based startup Streetline, IBM has launched a system designed to help cities ease parking congestion and collect more parking fees. Streetline's remote sensors can determine if a parking space is taken by a car, whether a customer has paid, and how much time is left on the meter. And IBM's business intelligence software parses the data and generates reports and statistics for government managers. Drivers can benefit too: A free mobile phone app can help locate available parking spaces."
and how well will the sensors stand up to the weat (Score:2)
and how well will the sensors stand up to the weather? cars? people defacing meters?
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There's a very well documented case of defacing meters [imdb.com]. It's a good thing it was recorded on video, because the meter communications mesh afterwards, well, what we got here is ... failure to communicate.
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Peak G force at impact.
I'm only half way kidding... A network of seismometers could have some scientific value, or at least be a cool hack, or "educational".
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There is no need for metrics if IBM is willing to warranty them against defacement, or at least guarantee that their replacement/repair costs don't go past a certain maximum amount. After all, standing up against tampering is their primary function. If the city could trust people, it wouldn't need meters, it would just need buckets in front of parking spaces, that people would just throw coins into as necessary.
Greed? (Score:2)
I like services. Services cost money. You're just a whiner who takes cost increases personally.
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News flash: In places where it matters, parking spaces are a scarce resource. Giving scarce resources away for free first-come-first-serve leads to some people hogging them and others not getting any.
I want parking to be expensive, because it means that in the rare occasions when I take my car downtown (and I do mean rare -- most of the time I bike or take the train), I can actually find a space. This also means t
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> If the city could trust people, it wouldn't need meters, it would just need buckets in front of parking spaces, ...
Or just a promise to return it to the government, come tax time.
Hmm... how about a camera that scan license plates and uses DMV information to pre-populate IRS forms at tax time? (Which could then pass on the monies to local government as needed). Maybe we could have the option to do our returns monthly. :D
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Even in a small town, this is a known quantity.
I live in a small town and do the IT support for the municipality on the side. The two guys at public works absolutely know exactly how many meters were defaced, and how much in parts and time each one cost to repair. You have to remember, municipalities work off of work orders and loads paperwork in general. This data exists. I can be collected and aggregated. For a single municipality like SF, it's probably its own budget line.
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Meters can be easily equipped with low cost webcams.
Since these meters will need wifi or some other connection to have their data collected, why not piggy back a webcam's stream as well.
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Good for drivers, not for profits (Score:1)
Should this parking-spot-finding mobile app come to fruition, the real winners here are drivers.
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$25!! That Cambridge area must be in the boondocks!
In San Francisco, our fines for expired meters are $68. In Berkeley, it's $43. And of course, other kinds of parking violations have much higher fines.
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Re:Good for drivers, not for profits (Score:4, Insightful)
I think systems like this will reset any time left on the meter as soon as the car pulls out, so nobody can come in and park "for free" by using the left over minutes. That's what increases the revenue.
Re:Good for drivers, not for profits (Score:4, Informative)
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Been there - in the old fashioned way.
I pulled into a carpark right after someone pulled out, saw that there was 30 min left on the meter, and started to walk away.
A parking inspector came up and said he was going to ticket me. I asked what for. He said because I had not paided. I pointed to the meter, which was showing 30 minutes or so left.
To avoid a pointless argument with an idiot I put 10c in (yes, this was a while back, around 10 years ago), which added another 10 minutes and wandered away.
I swear tha
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I think systems like this will reset any time left on the meter as soon as the car pulls out, so nobody can come in and park "for free" by using the left over minutes. That's what increases the revenue.
The article makes this sound like a strictly passive system. They add two sensors to an existing parking meter, one to monitor the space and one to read the display. The system relays analytical data to a central server to generate reporting on usage, etc. It also sounds like it doesn't generate any sort of ticketing by itself. At best there might be an application that meter maids could use to more quickly target delinquent parkers.
one of the interesting points is that the data will be fed into an inst
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they can fire the meter maids. duh.
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As you say, the saving comes from fewer meter maids.
Even at a low hourly rate, being able to make redundant a couple dozen people would pay for the system soon enough.
And at some point, writing tickets is fool's gold (Score:2)
Parts of Westwood have been called a "ghost town" [dailybruin.com] due to its business-unfriendly
I go palces that require paying to park (Score:1, Interesting)
My solution to this conundrum is simply to not go anywhere you must pay to park. This pretty much rules our most big cities, or at least most areas of big cities. This has the nice side effect of keeping me out of high crime areas. If you're going to charge me to park on a public road, funded by tax dollars, some of which came from me, I will not park there. If I don't park there, I of course won't be spending money in the surrounding areas. Their loss not mine, I hate cities.
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We don't miss you, nor your lack of comprehension of how user fees work.
You may not, but the store owners do. Where I used to live in the UK there used to be a thriving street full of stores in the mdidle of town, but after the council increased the price of parking to insane levels it became a street full of restaurants (due to free parking after 6pm), charity shops and betting shops (i.e. stores for people who are too poor to own a car).
Treat parking as a revenue source and you'll probably find that pretty soon you're losing far more revenue from all the stores that went out
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User fees? I'm with the original poster. I won't park in a metered spot in which the "problem" of overstaying or not paying is "solved" with punitive fines. I'll use a metered spot if there aren't the fines. In some systems, they issue a timestamp, and collect the appropriate amount at the exit, when you leave. No fines involved. But parking meters almost always mean a system rigged to cause violations. I won't participate in those.
If avoiding the parking meter means I don't visit certain places, s
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My solution to this conundrum is simply to not go anywhere you must pay to park. This pretty much rules our most big cities, or at least most areas of big cities. This has the nice side effect of keeping me out of high crime areas. If you're going to charge me to park on a public road, funded by tax dollars, some of which came from me, I will not park there. If I don't park there, I of course won't be spending money in the surrounding areas. Their loss not mine, I hate cities.
I've found places that try to nickel and dime me to death also have horrendous traffic, yet another good reason to stay away. And the nickel and dime mentality extends to the retail and service providers in the area, so I get better cheaper service by going somewhere "better"
I would like an app showing where I can park for free...
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Other than looking to score some drunk coed tail, there is no reason to visit or park in any of those towns.
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Funny thing about the public roads with tax dollars that you fund -- other people pay those taxes too.
I was not long ago at a public meeting about putting in some bike lanes on a neighborhood road with peak parking utilization measured well under 40%; this required taking out parking on one side of the street. The road in question was a great candidate -- its position relative to a major highway makes it a poor thoroughfare for motorists (who are subject to a one-way-only turn preventing them from using it
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Point is? The other people you're sharing this parking space with also pay the same taxes you do. Does this give you more right than they have? If not, why should you have the ability to take advantage of first-come-first-serve rules to get unlimited use of a very scarce resource -- thereby blocking others, who already paid in those same taxes, from access to the same?
[For the uninitiated -- gas taxes, vehicle registration, and the like pay for highways, not city streets].
It gives no more right to a given parking spot than anyone else, which is why it should simply be first come first serve. Charging additional for use of a resource already paid for is wrong. Government does not exist to rake in money above the operating and maintenance cost of a given resource. Government is supposed to be small and limited. Adding the expense of meters and enforcement raises the cost of the government to operate, and then they need not only the paid parking income but also many fines for v
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First, "already paid for" is... a very controversial choice of words. Transportation funding is expensive and ongoing, and maintenance of preexisting roads is a large part of that -- they don't just sit there forever once they're built any more than electric lines do.
Second, what you're asking for is a effectively a subsidy -- an expensive public resource (and making the roads wider to accommodate parking is considerably more expensive than
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The taxes that pay for these roads with parking along the side are ongoing taxes, just as the maintenance costs are ongoing. It is paid for without the need to bloat government and make it into a larger police state depending on violations for ongoing operations. The fact is that governments, especially where I live, tax the daylights out of homeowners and even more so out of businesses. There is no reason there should not be enough money to repave already established roads, including the parking area to th
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It's also not a very "functional and useful" water utility if you don't actually get any water to consume -- yet you're fine with water not actually being delivered unless you pay use fees on top of the base infrastructure mainten
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Water is different. You are getting a physical resource which costs money to treat and transport. You are continually using more, and pay for that usage. Water utilities are limited by law in many areas (particularly drought prone areas) which causes problems. Nobody has the right to water. It is a scarce resource which costs money. In many places laws are made to prevent utilities from raising rates, this results in overuse which exascerbates drought conditions. In a free market the costs would steadily in
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The economic concept of scarcity applies to both -- and this is precisely what my argument hinges on.
High-demand parking spaces are also scarce. That the costs to produce them and maintain them are paid on a less-frequent basis and amortized over time doesn't make those costs disappear, no matter how much you might prefer to believe the contrary.
Indeed, buying a single private parking space in high-demand areas can be a six-fig [nytimes.com]
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I'm kicking myself for not drawing a stronger parallel here --
This is exactly why parking should have market pricing as well! When downtown parking is scarce -- a "drought" -- hourly parki
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While parking and water may appear similar on the surface, they are not the same. When parking gets scarce, more parking can be made either by the local government with tax funds or by private companies adding smaller free to their customer lots, or larger paid use lots or garages. If there is demand, there will be profit and incentive to do this. Government does not exist to make profit. Regardless, new parking space can be made any time and there is no cost to deliver it. New water cannot be made on deman
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First off, "can be made any time" is... not so clear. Hundreds of millions of dollars to build a garage, remember, and that's after acquiring the land (and in dense urban spaces, where parking demand is high, acquiring the land can be the most expensive part). Roads with high rises and expensive hotels aren't exactly cheap to widen either. Keep in mind, it's not the total amount of parking in the city that counts, but the
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Just like the US Government! (Score:2)
I mean, they're not just facilitating the deaths of women and children, they're actually doing it! And people volunteer!
Why do you hate Social Security? (Score:2)
Too socialist for your tastes?
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The data collection will allow them to 'high-grade' parking meters by demand -- set lower maximum times for areas where they either want more turnover or a greater likelihood that the meter will expire before the driver gets back, allowing more ticketing.
And I would not put it past the design to incorporate the capability to alter the cost 'on the fly', raising the parking rates during peak times or when there is an event that's going to draw lots of people.
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My city actually closes a ton of parking meters for football game days for two reasons:
1) To force people to go to those $20 parking lots that it runs.
2) To ticket people that abso-fucking-lutely cannot find a space within ten miles for a day before or after the game and have to park there.
(optional)
3) To come back and ticket people that were parked at the meters before they put the 'no parking' hoods over them, after they put them on them.
Working with San Francisco-based startup... (Score:1)
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Incidentally, city officials (from various cities) have give parking turnover as the primary reason to have parking meters, and to charge as much as they do.
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SF already charges an arm and two legs for parking downtown, and they want to collect more fees?
I guess Steve Austin must have been one of their early customers.
How much you want to bet... (Score:4, Insightful)
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Ah! I see you've worked with IBM before?
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With and for.
It's a sparking pot! (Score:2)
n/t
Municipalities already do (Score:1)
"It's not just a parking spot, think of it as a 'revenue-producing asset,' says Vinodh Swaminathan, IBM's director of intelligent transportation systems. Working with San Francisco-based startup Streetline, IBM has launched a system designed to help cities ease parking congestion and collect more parking fees.
Hi Vinodh. All municipalities already do. They have more 'revenue-producing assets' like red-light cameras, speeding cameras, etc. This is why you get business areas where the big box stores make sure there is plenty of free parking. The little retailer downtown, that usually isn't able to keep up the same pricing level, is only saved by people that have to be there anyway or are that dependent on public transportation.
That aside, I was in a city in Germany (Trier or Cologne, not sure which it was) that had
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That aside, I was in a city in Germany (Trier or Cologne, not sure which it was) that had a system where they had displays around time that indicated how many spaces were available in a number of downtown parkades.
Cologne has had these for at least 25 years. By now every city has them. They simple count vehicles going in and out at the bar and compute the number of free spaces.
Spending 20 to save 10, my experience (Score:5, Informative)
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they can't simply shrug off their responsibility to the society that has allowed them to flourish.
Wanna bet, apple was given all their first IP for free. Now how much ip have they given away to garage start ups
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I think you hit at the problem exactly with the cycle of thinking on rates vs fines.
In the end, its just an extension of the failed attempts to control a problem of social attitudes and infrastructure investment, with the wrong tool for the job.
If there are so many cars, there should be places to park them. The answer is really to look into how you get people using other transportation OR provide ample parking. Seriously, its a failure to plan upfront. An understandable one but... that is what is really bei
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This is a serious dick move. Seriously. Just a dick move.
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Our meters already do a spot empty check to clear existing funds out of the meter when someone leaves.
This is a serious dick move. Seriously. Just a dick move.
Agreed. The meter is paid, who cares who paid for it? Stop double dipping.
Though on the topic of dick moves, the US has it pretty easy. Look for these vermin (The Melbourne City Council) are up to:
http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/AboutCouncil/MediaReleases/Pages/NewparkingtechnologyforCityofMelbourne.aspx [vic.gov.au]
In ground sensors - a device that records when a vehicle moves in and out of a parking bay. A five minute grace period will be built in and once a vehicle has overstayed the limit a signal will be se
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Get rid of the meters, they deter business. Ask local business, which need parking, to take on a local 1% sales tax and use the money to improve the area including the addition of parking lots.
Irony... (Score:2)
Motorists looking for parking can take advantage of this data through a free Streetline free mobile phone application for the iPhone and Android. Called Parker, this app can alert users of nearby parking spaces. The cities can also expose the data for other third-party applications as well.
This system is being debuted in California for you to use your smartphone to check park spot availability which is also where it is illegal to use your smartphone while operating a moving vehicle.
This will also result in 'race conditions' whereby 50 people all get a text message saying "Parking spot available at 3270 Embarcadero by Pier 39" and all will race to get there.
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This will also result in 'race conditions' whereby 50 people all get a text message saying "Parking spot available at 3270 Embarcadero by Pier 39" and all will race to get there.
Or I'll hack it and send messages to the effect that my block is full to keep 'my' space open.
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Automatic Parking Tickets coming soon! (Score:1)
It says it all right there. The units will know they space is occupied and whether or not it has been paid for.
"You are in violation of Parking Enforcement Code #236. Tender payment immediately. You have 15 seconds to comply."
In related news.... ... you. You may now join the ranks of the jobless. Good Luck on your career transition. We are sure you will find another position that allows you to aggravate regul
Thank you for your service Meter Maid/Man. We now can collect revenue without the added overhead of
How about a parking space auction? (Score:2)
Two cars fighting for the same parking place? Hold an short instant auction; the highest bidder gets the space. Hey, think of it of a tax on people with too much money to spend on a good parking space. Maybe even offer B-Celebrity, A-Celebrity and VIP spots for folks who like to flaunt their wealth?
Oh, the poor? Well, I guess they'll just have to walk or take public transportation. Unfair? Yes, but it sort of fits into the way most societies work anyway.
"I'm a doctor, Jim, not a 'revenue-producing a
Fender Bender because of Smart Phone App (Score:2)
Apps designed to be used behind the wheel shouldn't be made.
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I heard a SF official interviewed about this, and the official position is that the intention is that you would check overall parking availability before you leave wherever it is that you were.
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Fix the meters (Score:1)
It'll never happen, but... (Score:1)
I could get behind this if, and only if, they released an app that you could use to 'top off' the meter if you were about to run out. Might want to cap the time you can stay in certain areas of course, but that would take it from the money grab it is into what I would consider something actually useful to the community.
Mobile Phone App? (Score:1)
!Revenue Producing Asset (Score:2)
Can't solve the problem (Score:2)
If there's more people who want spaces than there are spaces, an app which tells you what you already know isn't going to help. By the time it tells you about an available space, it will be gone, to the lucky driver who happened to be cruising by. Only ways to fix this problem are
1) raise parking rates through the roof, until demand drops enough for supply to exceed it.
2) Eliminate whatever it is that causes people to want to park there.
3) Add more parking spots (e.g. garages and lots)
Most city government
Handicapped (Score:2)
Raising fees would also lead one to believe this system will be tied in with SFPD's parking enforcement officers letting them know where to go to write tickets. This system will have them driving to every handicapped vehicle in the city needlessly since they are parked in a metered space without pa
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Is that what it means? (Score:1)
Another reason to use public transportation (Score:1)
I thought parking meters were bad for business (Score:2)
I thought parking meters were bad for business - people don't want to pay, so instead of parking and shopping downtown, they drive out to the malls and Walmarts, Targets, KMarts etc.where parking is free. This leads to shops closing in the inner city.
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