Smart Parking Spaces In San Francisco

2centplain sends along a report in the NYTimes on San Francisco's smart parking initiative. He asks, "Any guesses on the when this will be hacked? Like, 'reserving' an empty spot by convincing a sensor that a car is actually parked there, or, perhaps using the wireless mesh network for some other purpose?" Quoting: "This fall, San Francisco will test 6,000 of its 24,000 metered parking spaces in the nation's most ambitious trial of a wireless sensor network that will announce which of the spaces are free at any moment. Drivers will be alerted to empty parking places either by displays on street signs, or by looking at maps on screens of their smartphones. They may even be able to pay for parking by cellphone, and add to the parking meter from their phones without returning to the car."

Comments

Ahh... "smart", not "Smart"

[Kris_J]

And here I was thinking that parking lots were starting to mark out half-size spaces for Swatch Smart cars.

Japan

[Rocketship Underpant]

Japan has something similar to this, albeit with parking lots rather than metered curb spaces, which don't exist to my knowledge. When you enter a dense commercial district, overhead LED signs show a map of the neighbourhood with parking areas colour-coded according to whether there are vacancies or not.

Isn't it illegal to use a cellhone while driving?

[phorest]

Drivers will be alerted to empty parking places either by displays on street signs, or by looking at maps on screens of their smartphones.

So let me get mind around this, California bans cellphones while behind the wheel but will possibly tie this to cellphones or even a confusing screen on your dashboard?
When will the madness end?