I knew that onstreet enforcement was hot when it was standing room only at the onstreet presentation at the IPI — I also noted that the booths with P and D, Pay by Space, pay by cell, and other like products were the busiest at the show. My friend and resident scholar, by email, Dale Denda has moved an entire division of his company, Parking Market Research Company, to the study of on street enforcement.
However the Main Stream Media has finally caught up with our industry. The Wall Street Journal has invested half a page discussing the different types of onstreet fee collection. Read all about it here.
Although its great that half a dozen companies including Mint, POM, Duncan, Cale, Autovu, and Innovapark get some great PR, it is interesting that except for the Autovu GPS system, and pay by cell phone there’s not much new under the sun.
Payment by in car meters, P and D, and card systems at meters has actually been around for a decade. One of the first articles we did in PT years ago was the P and D system in Vale, that also used in car meters, permits, and debit cards.
What has happened, I think, is that the amount being charged to park has risen to the point where cities are now looking for different ways to collect it. That technology which was slightly before its time, now sees that its time has come.
JVH
