NYC Parking Meters Set to Get Smart

“Say goodbye to those flimsy little parking receipts sitting on your dashboard,” writes Jill Colvin. “Outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg today announced the city has put out a bid for a contract that would allow drivers to pay for municipal parking by cell phone or online.”

“The electronic payments–which would be accessible to traffic cops via their hand-held ticketing machines–would eliminate the need for drivers to place paper receipts on their dashboards and would also allow drivers to top up their time without having to run back to feed the meter when their time has expired.”

“The city is also testing embedded sensor technology that would provide information about where drivers can find open spots.”