Top off Your Parking Meter with a Cell Call

dstone writes "Vancouver, Canada has just become the first major city in North America to allow motorists to feed their parking meters with their cell phone. Drivers call a number on each meter, the system recognizes them by Caller ID, they enter how many minutes they want, and that's it. The system sends them a reminder text message before their time is up and they can extend their time remotely. The catch? The company contracted to provide the service, Verrus, makes their money through a 30-cent 'convenience fee.' Less pockets full of change, less parking tickets, seems like a step forward."

Comments

Wrong Number?

[Shadow Wrought]

So do you trade parking meter stickers with Lexus guy then?

Re:Wrong Number?

[Nogami_Saeko]

I think you're thinking of private lots (where this has been available for years). This is the first roll-out that covers all of the coin-meters on the sides of the street.

It seems like a good idea, however the cynical side of me also wonders that if in addition text messaging the owner of the vehicle when the payment is about to expire, it might also be text messaging the parking enforcement officer for the area to keep an eye out in areas with lots of meters that are expiring at the same time so they know where to concentrate their "efforts"...

It would also be nice if they could do this as a straight text message by phone instead of by voice. Could be a lot faster...

N.

Kinda defeats a parking meter feature

[OYAHHH]

If,

I'm not way off-track one of the purposes of a parking meter is the annoyance feature. Keeps a set of rich guys from pumping quarters in it all day long without any negative consequences for them.

This tech enables that sort of behavior.

And then the poor slobs get to walk a half a mile just to get to the courthouse.....

Re:Kinda defeats a parking meter feature

[toleraen]

the laws are becoming more and more rigid (mandatory life sentences, etc).

You're blaming the freakin' meter maid for mandatory life sentences?! While I agree that the police might be given more rights than they should, you're talking about the person that's hired to make sure your dumbass is fairly paying for general road repairs! What, do you blame the janitor for having to wash your hands after taking a crap at work?

Scare quotes

[kevin_conaway]

Why the scare quotes around convenience fees? Is the submitter implying that the cell phone company should graciously provide this service for free? Or perhaps the fee isn't really a fee?

Either way, editorializing in the summary is silly.

Re:Scare quotes

[bunions]

being able to put more time on your parking meter without running out to the curb in the rain sounds pretty fucking convenient to me. I pay a fee for convenience. Therefore it is a convenience fee. I don't see how this is confusing for anyone.

Uh huh. Except...

[penguinstorm]

1) It bills to your credit card
2) I don't have a credit card
3) I don't like The Man tracking my activities, right down to where and when I park

Just a thought.

It's about the money

[ezratrumpet]

The Man probably doesn't care about temporary parking vs. garage parking. If anything, the Man will encourage more use of temporary (aka parking meter) parking. Meters, when in use, make more money than parking garages. If the Man can keep the metered spaces full, it means more money for governmental projects.

Re:"Convenience" fees! Heh.

[Irish_Samurai]

Don't claim you're anti-establishment as some sort of justification of your con jobs. Your actions are the ones driving companies to do the shit they do.