There's a San Francisco company Streetline that wants to change how the world (or at least a few cities) views parking. Install smart meters that have sensors detecting when the space is occupied or empty and respond accordingly.
On the negative side, how would you feel if you parked at a metered space and the minute the meter ran out, it called the meter maid to come and give you a ticket or worse just took your license plate information with a camera and mailed you a ticket based on how long you overstayed your welcome.
On the positive side, how wonderful would it be if you could flick open your cell phone or PDA in a congested area and get directions to an empty space.
What will be the unintended consequences of this new technology? Do people often plan on overstaying their limit in parking meters? Will garages suddenly develop a booming business?
In the small town of Utsunomiya Japan where I used to live, there were no street parking spaces. If you had a car, you had to rent or own a corresponding space. If you went to a friend's house there was never a parking space. This city was modern enough that they could have planned for more parking, but it wasn't in the culture. There were very expensive Ferris wheel like parking lots where you could put your car. Is this the future of American cities as well?
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