GreenTrendSpotter

Coin-only parking meters that stick out like sore thumbs up and down streets may soon become history in San Diego.

As part of a pilot project, some old single-space meter heads are being replaced by solar-powered counterparts that accept card payments, in addition to coins.

The high-tech meters are not just convenient and green, they are also good for the city's coffers. They make it possible for the city to more efficiently ticket parking violators.

Being tested alongside sensors, they provide the city with real-time information on whether users are paying the appropriate amount into the meters and if they have over-stayed. With this data in hand, the city can figure out precisely where to deploy enforcement officers to write tickets for scofflaws.

Cha-Ching! More revenues for the city coffers.

"The high-tech meters can automatically record the number of arrivals and departures and determine whether parkers are paying the right amount for the time that they use," Mayor Jerry Sanders said in a recent news conference unveiling the new meters.

"That information can help the city improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its parking management and planning efforts. It will also let us know the areas where we might need to step up our parking enforcement efforts."

The new meters are the second wave of solar-powered parking technology to hit San Diego streets. The first wave was the multi-space "Pay & Display" stations that service an entire block of parking spaces downtown.

Fifty-one single-space solar meters have been installed in the city's Uptown and downtown neighborhoods as part of the four-month pilot.

These nifty devices are similar in appearance to the old-fashioned ones. That is until you look closely. The backside of the 21st-century meter is embedded with a blue solar panel the size of a slice of bread. Underneath the front display window are colorful buttons that allow users to add or reduce time, cancel or okay a transaction.

"These new meters are more environmentally friendly than existing single- space meters because they reduce battery usage and disposal needs when compared to the existing mechanisms," Sanders said.

Here is a list of locations where the new meters are being tested:
3800 4th Ave., 24 meters
600 West G St., 5 meters
600 6th Ave., 13 meters
500 Market St., 6 meters
600 5th Ave., 3 meters

Mike Vogel, San Diego's revenues collections manager, said the city will be closely tracking the performance of the new meters.

"We are going to see if they improve our parking enforcement efforts, if they cut down on operations and maintenance needs," he said. "We are also going to track the public's acceptance of these new meters to see how often we get complaints and service requests."

The meters are made by a San Diego engineering and manufacturing company, the IPS Group, Inc., which is a 2001 winner of the Deloittes Technology Fast 50 Award.

What makes its technology so attractive to the city is that its single-meter heads can be mounted on existing support poles in a matter of seconds.

To transform an old meter into a high-tech device, a worker first unlocks the meter, takes off the dome cover and removes the one-piece mechanical heart inside. Then he drops in a new mechanism, snaps on the cover, and locks it.

Voila! It's done in as little as 15 seconds.