Parking Meters
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A parking meter is a device used to collect money in exchange for the right to
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
a
vehicle A vehicle () is a machine designed for self-propulsion, usually to transport people, cargo, or both. The term "vehicle" typically refers to land vehicles such as human-powered land vehicle, human-powered vehicles (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, velo ...
in a particular place for a limited amount of time. Parking meters can be used by
municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
as a tool for enforcing their integrated on-street parking policy, usually related to their
traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...
and mobility management policies, but are also used for revenue.


History

An early patent for a parking meter, U.S. patent, was filed by Roger W. Babson, on August 30, 1928. The meter was intended to operate on power from the battery of the parking vehicle and required a connection from the car to the meter. Holger George Thuesen and Gerald A. Hale designed the first working parking meter, the Black Maria, in 1935. The History Channel's... ''History's Lost and Found'' documents their success in developing the first working parking meter. Thuesen and Hale were engineering professors at
Oklahoma State University Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...
. They began working on the parking meter in 1933 at the request of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...
lawyer and newspaper publisher Carl C. Magee.Chan, Sewell.
New York Retires Last Mechanical Parking Meter
"
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
. 20 December 2006
The world's first installed parking meter was in Oklahoma City on July 16, 1935. Magee received a patent for the apparatus on 24 May 1938. Industrial production started in 1936 and expanded until the mid-1980s. The first models were based on a coin acceptor, a dial to engage the mechanism, and a visible pointer and flag to indicate the expiration of the paid period. This configuration lasted more than 40 years, with only a few changes in the exterior design, such as a double-headed design (to cover two adjacent parking spaces) and the incorporation of new materials and production techniques. M.H. Rhodes Inc. of
Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
started making meters for Mark-Time Parking Meter Company of
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
, where the first Rhodes meters were installed in 1936. These were different from the Magee design because only the driver's action of turning a handle was necessary to keep the spring wound. At the same time, Magee's meters needed a serviceman to wind the spring occasionally. Upon insertion of
coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...
s into a
currency detector A currency detector or currency validator is a device that determines whether notes or coins are genuine or counterfeit. These devices are used in a wide range of automated machines, such as retail kiosks, supermarket self checkout machines, ...
slot or swiping a credit card or
smartcard A smart card (SC), chip card, or integrated circuit card (ICC or IC card), is a card used to control access to a resource. It is typically a plastic credit card-sized card with an embedded integrated circuit (IC) chip. Many smart cards include a ...
into a slot, and turning a handle (or pressing a key), a timer is initiated within the meter. Some locations now allow payment by
mobile phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This rad ...
(to remotely record payments for subsequent checking and enforcement). A dial or display on the meter indicates the time remaining. In many cities, all parking meters are designed to use only one type of coin. Use of other coins will fail to register, and the meter may cease to function altogether. For example, in
Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is the most populous municipality in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.
, all parking meters are designed for quarters only. In 1960,
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
hired its first crew of "meter maids"; all were women. It was not until 1967 that the first man was hired. In the mid-1980s, a digital version was introduced, replacing the mechanical parts with electronic components: boards, keyboards, and displays. This allowed the meter more flexibility, as an
EEPROM EEPROM or E2PROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) is a type of non-volatile memory. It is used in computers, usually integrated in microcontrollers such as smart cards and remote keyless systems, or as a separate chip d ...
chip can be reconfigured more easily than corresponding mechanical components. By the beginning of the 1990s, millions of parking meter units had been sold worldwide. Still, the market was already looking into new solutions, like the collective
pay and display A pay and display machine is a type of ticket machine used for regulating parking in urban areas or in car parks. It relies on a customer purchasing a ticket from a machine and displaying the ticket on the dashboard, windscreen or passenger windo ...
machines and new forms of
payment A payment is the tender of something of value, such as money or its equivalent, by one party (such as a person or company) to another in exchange for goods or services provided by them, or to fulfill a legal obligation or philanthropy desir ...
that appeared along with
electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...
and communication technologies.


Fully electrical

More modern parking meters are generically called multi-space meters (as opposed to single-space meters) and control multiple spaces per block (typically 8-12) or lots (unlimited). While with these meters, the parker may have to walk several car lengths to the meter, there are significant customer service, performance, and efficiency benefits. Multispace meters incorporate more customer-friendly features such as on-screen instructions and acceptance of credit cards for payment—no longer do drivers have to have pockets full of coins. While they may still be prone to coin jams and other types of vandalism, most of these meters are wireless and can report problems immediately to maintenance staff, who can then fix the meters so they are not out of service for very long. With pay-by-space meters, the driver parks in a space, goes to the meter, enters the space number, and makes payment. The meter memorizes the time remaining, and enforcement personnel press the bay buttons to check for violations. Other advances in parking meters include vehicle detection technology, which allows the pay-by-space meters to know when a car is parked in a space. This opens the door for benefits for parking managers, including providing way-finding (directing drivers to unoccupied spaces via the web or street signs), enabling remote violation detection, and gathering vital statistics about parking supply and demand. Some meters allow payment for additional time by phone and notify drivers when they are about to expire. Parking meters in Santa Monica use vehicle detectors to prevent drivers from "feeding the meter" indefinitely, and to delete remaining time when a car departs so the next car cannot take any time without paying. Meters in Madrid give discounted and free parking to drivers of hybrid and electric vehicles, respectively. Drivers can reserve meters spots in Los Angeles by cellphone. Another advancement with parking meters is the new solar-powered meters that accept credit cards and still coins. Credit card enabled solar powered "smart" single-space meters were installed in Los Angeles in 2010, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stated "the city's Department of Transportation had projected the 10,000 Coin & Card parking meters installed over the last six months would generate 1-1.5 million in revenue each year". These parking meters replace the top of the meter, but use the existing pole, and use solar power, which can help with sending technicians a wireless signal when in need for repair. DDOT (the
District of Columbia Department of Transportation The District Department of Transportation (DDOT, stylized as d.) is an agency of the government of the District of Columbia, in the United States, which manages and maintains publicly owned transportation infrastructure in the District of Colu ...
) states that this new parking meter will provide: "better return on tax payer's investment, a variety of options, reduced maintenance, a variety of easy payment options, and increased reliability". New digital meters now account for all of
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
's 62,000 single-space parking meters, which are more accurate and difficult to break into. New York City retired its last spring-loaded, single-space, mechanical parking meter at West 10th Street and Surf Avenue in
Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...
on December 20, 2006. "The world changes. Just as the [subway] token went, now the manual meter has gone," said Iris Weinshall, the city's transportation commissioner, at a small ceremony marking the occasion, the New York Times reported.


Security issues

Parking meters are exposed to the elements and
vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...
s, so protection of the device and its
cash In economics, cash is money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins. In book-keeping and financial accounting, cash is current assets comprising currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-i ...
contents is a priority. The meters are frequently targeted in areas where parking regulations and enforcement are widely perceived to be unfair and predatory. Some cities have learned the hard way that these machines must be upgraded regularly, essentially playing an
arms race An arms race occurs when two or more groups compete in military superiority. It consists of a competition between two or more State (polity), states to have superior armed forces, concerning production of weapons, the growth of a military, and ...
with vandals. In
Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...
, the cut-off remains of meter poles were a common sight during the late 1990s, and parking was essentially free throughout the city until the city government installed digital parking meters with heavier poles in 2000 (which were eventually vandalized as well).


Legality in the United States

In a 1937 case in Oklahoma, H.E. Duncan contended that the ordinances impose a fee for the free use of the streets, which is a right of all citizens of the state granted by state law. The Courts ruled that free use of the streets is not an absolute right. Still, they agreed with an unpublished 1936 Florida court decision that said, "If it had been shown that the streets on which parking meters have been installed under this ordinance are not streets where the traffic is sufficiently heavy to require any parking regulations of this sort, or that the city was making inordinate and unjustified profits using the parking meters, and was resorting to their use not for regulatory purposes but for revenue only, there might have been a different judgment." One of the first parking meter tickets resulted in the first court challenge to metered parking enforcement. Rev. C.H. North of Oklahoma City's Third Pentecostal Holiness Church had his citation dismissed when he claimed he had gone to a grocery store to get change for the meter. The North Carolina Supreme Court judged that a city could not pledge on-street parking meter fee proceeds as security for bonds issued to build off-street parking decks. The court said, "Streets of a municipality are provided for public use. A city board has no valid authority to rent, lease, or let a parking space on the streets be rented by an individual motorist 'for a fee' or to charge a rate or toll. Much less may it lease or let the whole system of on-street parking meters for operation by a private corporation or individual." A 2009 lawsuit filed by the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization claimed the City of Chicago's 2008 concession agreement for the operation of its parking meters to a private company violated state law. In November 2010, portions of the suit were thrown out by the Cook County Circuit Court, including the claim that the city was using public funds unlawfully to enforce parking regulations after the presiding judge decided that the city retained its ability to write tickets and enforce parking laws. However, the judge allowed other parts of the suit to stand, including an accusation that the city unlawfully conceded some of its policing power and its ability to set parking and traffic policy to the private company in the concession agreement. As of January 2011, the suit remained active, with the City of Chicago maintaining that the city retains all policing power, maintains responsibility for traffic management, and, through the concession agreement, retains control over rates.


Use in the United Kingdom

Parking meters were first used in Britain in 1958. They were used in most towns and cities although from c. 1980s they have mostly been replaced by
Pay and display A pay and display machine is a type of ticket machine used for regulating parking in urban areas or in car parks. It relies on a customer purchasing a ticket from a machine and displaying the ticket on the dashboard, windscreen or passenger windo ...
, pay on foot and
Pay-by-phone parking Pay-by-phone parking is a system of paying for car parking via a mobile app or mobile network operator. It is an alternative to the traditional ways to pay for parking of parking meter or pay and display machines. SMS pay-by-phone parking was fi ...
.


Alternatives

In the US states of
Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
,
Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, and the whole of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
, holders of a
disabled parking permit A disabled parking permit, also known as a disabled badge, disabled placard, handicapped permit, handicapped placard, handicapped tag, and "Blue Badge" in the European Union, is a permit that is displayed upon parking a vehicle. It gives the o ...
are exempt from parking meter fees on public streets. In some states, handicapped parking meters exist, which must be paid at the same rate as regular meters. However, one will also receive a violation ticket if a valid handicapped license plate or placard is not displayed on the vehicle. Some cities have gone to a device called a Parkulator, where the users purchase a display device, usually for $5 or $10, then load it with as much time as they care to buy. They then activate the device when they park at a location, and place the display device on their dashboard so it is visible from the front windshield. The device counts down the time remaining on the device while it remains activated. When they return, the clock stops running, and the person does not overpay for unused time. In the UK, parking and paying with a credit or debit card through a dedicated telephone service is now possible. Civil Enforcement Officers that patrol the parking area are automatically informed through their handheld devices. An in-vehicle parking meter is a handheld electronic device, the size of a pocket calculator, that drivers display in their car windows as a parking permit or as proof of parking payment. Implementation of IVPM began in the late 1980s in
Arlington, VA Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...
, and is spreading to campuses and municipalities worldwide as a centralized method of parking management, revenue collection, and compliance enforcement. Another technology offers the possibility of reloading money (parking time) to the device via a secure Internet site.


See also

People * Meade McClanahan, sued the city of Los Angeles to block the installation of parking meters


References


Sources


Oklahoma City site of first parking meter. (Historic film)

'' "Parking Meters Yield $50,000 A Year" ''
1951 article with excellent illustration of coin-operated meters
Articles from the Wausau Daily Herald

Metergate
from the SF Times (archived)


Saskatoon, SK - the first Canadian City to offer cell phone parking payment option for its parking meters
October 21, 2005
Parking meter payment by cell phone
from Slashdot, June 26, 2006
Voice Of America Video

New Parking Meter, calls you when time is up - with Pictures

Sensor-based parking meter with push enforcement, bike share, wayfinding, and validation

Secure Storage Technologies Smart Parking Meter

The Case of the Parking Meter Thief
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...


External links

* – ''Coin controlled parking meter''
The Parking Meter Page
{{Authority control American inventions Street furniture 1932 introductions Parking Car costs 20th-century inventions