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Google Maps' latest trick is remembering where you parked
Google Now kept track of parking locations before, but it wasn't with any degree of accuracy. The latest version of the Android Google Maps app circumvents how inaccurate the feature was by having you mark a parking spot for yourself. That's a pretty stark comparison to the dark magic (read: GPS and other data) that Now used prior.
New York City now lets you pay for parking with your phone
New York City is making good on its promise to have smarter parking meters before 2016 is over. As of December 19th, the first ParkNYC-capable Muni-Meters are live in midtown Manhattan -- you can now pay for parking through a smartphone app (or the web, or a call) instead of fishing for cards and coins. While you'll need to load a virtual wallet, you can extend your parking if you're in danger of running out. The days of racing to the meter to top it up will soon be over, then, but so are the days of pleading with traffic officers when you're a little too late.
Madrid's parking meters now charge extra if you drive a fuel hog
Madrid has an air quality problem, and it's taking an unusual approach to getting the offending vehicles off the road: it's discouraging their drivers from parking. As of today, the city's smart parking meters charge up to 20 percent extra if you drive a car that's likely to either be a fuel hog or put out a lot of exhaust fumes, such as pre-2006 diesels. Conversely, you'll get a discount as high as 20 percent if you're driving a newer (and presumably cleaner-running) car; it's completely free if you're using an electric vehicle. The system is based on a simple license plate check, although it's accompanied by parking space sensors that make you pay more if you're using up one of the last available spots.
NYC to trial mobile payment parking system, Lovely Rita looks for a new gig
Tired of burning your hard earned cash on parking fines? You might wanna move to New York City, where the Department of Transportation will soon begin testing a "pay by phone" parking system. The mobile payment technology, which has already been introduced in cities like Washington, DC and Atlanta, essentially allows drivers to pay for their parking spots without ever having to interact with those menacing, metallic meters. After registering online, users would be able to pay for curbside real estate by entering the number of the nearest meter and the amount of time they'd like to purchase into a customized app, or by texting it to the city's Department of Transportation. The system would also alert users whenever their allotted time is about to expire, allowing them to add more money directly from their handsets, rather than trudge back their cars. At this point, the plan is to roll out the pilot program to some 300 parking spots over the next few months, most likely in outer borough neighborhoods with plenty of commercial outlets and, presumably, automobiles.
San Francisco rolls out new smart parking meters with 'demand-responsive pricing'
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/travel_places/The_Most_Futuristic_Real_World_Device_I_ve_Seen'; San Francisco has been working on making parking "smarter" for quite a while now, and it's just recently taken another big step in that direction by starting to replace over 5,000 older parking meters with the snazzy new model pictured above. Those will not only let you pay with a credit or debit card (and soon a special SFMTA card), but automatically adjust parking rates based on supply and demand, which means you could pay anywhere from $0.25 to $6.00 an hour depending on how many free spaces there are. Those rates are determined with the aid of some sensors that keep a constant watch on parking spaces, which also means you'll be able to check for free spaces in an area on your phone or your computer before you even leave the house. Hit up the link below for the complete details, and to check if the neighborhoods you frequent are included in the initial rollout.
In San Francisco, hackers park for free
In High School civics class we learned that besides voting, feeding the meter is one of the most important things we Americans can do. But just like e-voting, it looks like you can add parking to the list of things that hackers have spoiled for law and order-types everywhere. According to the kids at CNET, a group of nogoodniks were able to decode the smartcards used by Guardian XLE-series meters manufactured by J.J. MacKay Canada -- from which point it was a simple matter of boosting the card's value to $999.99. Its unclear how the city of San Francisco (one of several around the country that have dealt with the company) is going to address the problem, but one possibility is flagging accounts with suspicious activity and reprogramming parking meters to ignore the offending cards. Is nothing sacred, people?
U.K. town rolls out "intelligent" parking meters
It looks like Eastbourne in East Sussex, UK is the latest town to ditch its old school parking meters in favor of some decidedly more high-tech options, with the county's council even going so far as to boast that their new meters are among the most "secure and intelligent" in the country. Costing a hefty £3,000 (or over $6,000) apiece, the meters pack a few more options than other newfangled meters, including their own SIM card that can be used to call for help if anyone attempts to bust one open. As with some similar meters, these ones, dubbed the Alfia 300 CI, are solar powered, and each is also covered by a CCTV system to catch vandals or would-be pocket change thieves in the act. While 150 of the meters are reportedly already in place in the town, they're apparently being kept under wraps until the big unveiling on Monday, when the whole lot is set to go into service.[Via textually.org, photo courtesy of Eastbourne Today]
