acknowledged

I agree that we should have solar-based parking meters...but if we cannot install a solar or wireless meter, I cringe at the idea of breaking up the sidewalk to run power cables.

Bill Ward Director of Permitting and Inspections assigned this issue to SCormier

forwarding request to Traffic Dept

I'd be curious to know how long it will take to recoup the expense of installing hi-tech meters when the ones we have seem to work fine. Or, do we get to pay $5.00 for 15 minutes of time instead of the quarter we now pay?

Solar power? do you have any examples Khalem.

Here is one example.

The City will always use change in the meters as some people don't use or want credit cards. We are looking at way to incorporate cards into the system and we hope to do it in a year or two.

Here's a PDF that describes the solar-powered parking program in our doppelganger Portland, OR.

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bibs/article/157993?

The thing is, it can take two or three minutes to pay, it raises the rates by quite a bit in every city that attempts it either powered by solar or wireless and the alternative is to rip up the sidewalk for power cables. We can't do that work in the winter, which means we'd need to do it in the summer when tourism is high and we don't want to displace the downtown parkers during that time.

I think it would also be a great idea to offer some sort of "meter permit" (for a fee, of course) to people who live in areas with strictly metered parking. Renting a private parking spot costs in the neighborhood of $80-$100/month, and with parking tickets at $15 a pop now...I think it could be financially beneficial to both the City and residents of these areas.

@BTV Taxpayer - I think the expense gets recouped rather quickly considering two main factors. The first is a reduction on the cost side of having people collect and handle the cash. The 2nd factor is that supply can more easily be changed to meet demand. At peak hours we could theoretically increase the rate and at non-peak hours the rate of course could remain the same. Additionally, new avenues could open for monitoring compliance remotely and therefore each spot could generate more consistent revenue.

@Kahlem a quick search yielded a few results for solar powered options. I suspect that it is more than feasible to make this improvement without breaking up the sidewalks. Great idea!

Thanks for fixing this issue!