Parking Meters

75 years after the first meter was installed in Oklahoma City, cities are beginning to rethink traditional parking regulation strategies. Tom Vanderbilt considers the options.

Los Angeles is planning to undertake a year-long experiment in demand-based pricing on parking in its downtown. The dynamic parking system will be put in place next summer.

San Francisco has begun a two-year test of variably-priced parking meters in an effort to see how pricing affects driving and parking decisions in parts of the city.

San Francisco's transportation agency has proposed the installation of parking meters in a handful of neighborhoods that dynamically change their prices according to the time of day and the related demand.

The Atlanta City Council voted unanimously to approve a 30-day moratorium on enforcing the city's privately managed parking meters.

New York follows a trend happening in cities across the country, taking out parking meters in favor of central pay stations and turning some old meters into bike parking.

The City of Chicago, in a much criticized move, recently privatized its parking enforcement. Stephen Goldsmith says the program should be celebrated instead of booed.

Chicago's decision to privatize its parking meters seems to be a loss for the city, as new data shows the city could have made much more money in the long term had they maintained operational management.

Earlier this year, The City of Chicago handed over control of their parking meter enforcement to a private company. A watchdog group is suing, saying the city didn't have a right to lease the public's streets.

At a digital security conference in Las Vegas, a presenter showed that newer "smart" parking meters can be hacked, giving the hacker free parking wherever they go.

With cities switching to new pay kiosks, parking meters are going the way of the dodo- unfortunately for bikers, who use the posts for bike racks. A handful of cities are seeing the possibility in old posts.

A new technology in use in Sacramento, CA snaps pics of cars' tires and compares them on the next sweep, increasing the number of time violators caught.

The City of St. Petersburg, Florida has proposed longer enforcement hours on parking meters. Residents and business owners are none too happy about the change.

For $1.16 billion, Chicago Parking Meters LLC, has won the rights to manage Chicago's parking meters. This is one step the city has taken to ease budget shortfalls.

On Tuesday, San Francisco's MUNI approved a pilot program to price 6,000 of the city's parking spots according to popularity.