High-tech parking meters are getting stingier
Major metro areas have been phasing out coin-operated parking meters for years, but now small cities and towns are starting to catch a whiff of high-tech parking, as well. In the coastal resort town of Pacific Grove, California, all of the meters are computers that take input from a wire grid under the pavement to indicate when a vehicle has parked. That data can also be sent wirelessly to traffic enforcement so they can be alerted when the time is out on any spot in town. The Pacific Grove meters actually increase parking fees over time — you'll pay $1 for each of the first two hours, but the next two hours are $2 each, while the fifth hour jumps to $4, and so on. When a car leaves the spot, the meter auto magically resets to zero, so you can forget about serendipitously running into good parking karma (or giving any to anyone else). We know this saves the city a bunch of money on enforcement, but come on — no parking karma? Where's the love?
