Parking meter
Holger George Thuesen and Gerald A. Hale designed the first working parking meter, the Black Maria, in 1935.
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.
[11] In the mid-1980s, a digital version was introduced, replacing the mechanical parts with electronic components: boards, keyboards, and displays.
Still, the market was already looking into new solutions, like the collective pay and display machines and new forms of payment that appeared along with electronic money and communication technologies.
[14] 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.
The meter memorizes the time remaining, and enforcement personnel press the bay buttons to check for violations.
Credit card enabled solar powered "smart" single-space meters[18] 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".
New York City retired its last spring-loaded, single-space, mechanical parking meter at West 10th Street and Surf Avenue in Coney Island on December 20, 2006.
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.
The meters are frequently targeted in areas where parking regulations and enforcement are widely perceived to be unfair and predatory.
[22][23] Some cities have learned the hard way that these machines must be upgraded regularly, essentially playing an arms race with vandals.
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.
"[28] 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.
[29] 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.
[30] 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.
[36] Implementation of IVPM began in the late 1980s in Arlington, VA,[37] 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.
