[B’ Spokes: I’ll assert that free on-street parking takes usable space from cyclists so it would be nice if these things could fund bike/ped projects. But that aside, cheep parking means too many cars and expensive parking means more alternate transportation so this is a great way to arrive at a balance. (I’m not anti-car just pro appropriate use of cars, and no I am not trying for the Olympics just because I can bike 6 miles, that distance should be doable for the vast majority of people.)]
by Donald Melanson
San Francisco has been working on making parking “
smarter” for quite a while now, and it’s just recently taken another big step in that direction by starting to replace over 5,000 older parking meters with the snazzy new model pictured above. Those will not only let you pay with a credit or debit card (and soon a special SFMTA card), but automatically adjust parking rates based on supply and demand, which means you could pay anywhere from $0.25 to $6.00 an hour depending on how many free spaces there are. Those rates are determined with the aid of some sensors that keep a constant watch on parking spaces, which also means you’ll be able to check for free spaces in an area on your phone or your computer before you even leave the house. Hit up the link below for the complete details, and to check if the neighborhoods you frequent are included in the initial rollout.
< a href=”https://www.engadget.com/2010/08/07/san-francisco-rolls-out-new-smart-parking-meters-with-demand-re/”>https://www.engadget.com/2010/08/07/san-francisco-rolls-out-new-smart-parking-meters-with-demand-re/oldId.20100810201951355
