CHICAGO PARKING METERS 2.0 - Soon . . . No Quarters Needed, and Auto-Enforcement!
ELECTRONIC PAYMENT, PIGGYBACKING ON OTHER'S TIME, EVEN THE METERS THEMSELVES MAY SOON BE HISTORY!
They're Urban Icons! Frustrating! And, they're about to become a memory - the old-fashioned Parking Meters on virtually every main street in Chicago.
This year, the quadrupling of parking meter rates in most Chicago Neighborhoods is the first, most noticeable change drivers will see when parking their cars on city streets. Enforcement will take place seven days a week, and on holidays, too. Meter rates downtown - even higher! And, soon to come, Congestion Pricing, designed to both increase city parking revenue, and sway a few more commuters away from their cars and onto the CTA.
Those stalk-mounted pole meters, in use since you were a little kid? They'll be going the way of Riverview Park, and the Chicago Stock Yards! Those pay-station kiosks, in a few Chicago Neighborhoods including Logan Square and Taylor Street/Little Italy? They'll be going on permanent hiatus as well.
According to Jon Hilkevitch's "Getting Around" Blog, in yesterday's Chicago Tribune, soon, so-called smart meters - operable with a credit card, or via online or cell phone pre-payment, will proliferate. These changes are coming as a result of a new 75-year Meter Outsource Lease between the City of Chicago and a company called Chicago Parking Meters LLC. The deal will generate over $1 Billion for the city between now and the time Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's Great, Great Grand Daughter will be in office.
But there's another side to the improvement in parking meter technology. New meters will feature the technology to reset their clocks to zero after a car leaves, and a new one arrives. No more taking advantage of the minutes left on the meter when over fed by the previous driver who parked there.
And "tickets" will likely be issued electronically, by those monitoring elapsed parking time from a central location, and automatically debiting your fine from a credit card the second the meter has expired - subject to your time-consuming appeal, of course. This system has been tested in France, is incredibly annoying, but has generated considerable parking revenue for the French towns that have installed it.
For convenience, a universal "Transportation Card" is possible against which meter fees, garage fees, mass transit fares, and Tollway Tolls can be deducted. The current CTA Chicago Card Plus and the I-PASS Auto-Pay Toll Transponder already are in place for these agencies.
Indeed, parking in Chicago appears to be entering the 21st Century, but not everyone will be happy about it!
DEAN MOSS & DEAN'S TEAM CHICAGO
