"meters that allow payment by cell phone and use text messaging to inform a driver whose time is running out ..."
YES, we have these in Vancouver, and they are a great improvement.
Smart parking meters taking off
· By: Drivers.com staff
· Date: 2009-03-01
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'Smart' parking meters have been in use in Europe for about 20 years now and some have been used in the U.S. for about 10 years. However, as older meters reach the end of their lives across North America the rate of smart meter use is accelerating.
The new meters have a rapidly increasing range of features that can include facilities such as in-ground sensors to tell if a car is parked in a space or not, meters that allow payment by cell phone and use text messaging to inform a driver whose time is running out, "cash key" prepaid systems which enable a driver to insert a key like device with prepaid time, and even solar-powered meters that take credit and debit cards.
Some meters will even allow a refund for unused time.
The new meter technologies are leading us to an age in which we can find parking spaces electronically in advance of arrive, book time in them remotely, add time from our restaurant seat, or even pay according to time of day and scarcity of spaces.
In other words, in the parking world of the future you won’t be able to get away with anything, but then again, you probably won’t want to because of the convenience and fairness of the system. 
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Comments
Doug, on Thursday, 05. March 2009 at 05:59 PM
