Cities Need to Learn These 5 Lessons About Parking Meters

American cities are realizing the importance of an efficient parking system. And as a result,  new technology, smartphone apps and other innovations cropping up across the country.
But as UCLA’s “prophet of parking” Donald Shoup notes in ACCESS magazine, there are a few simple ways municipalities can get more residents on board with pesky parking regulations. The author of the 2005 book “The High Cost of Free Parking” shares five strategies that American cities should implement in order to making parking meters popular.
Use pay-by-plate technology
While many communities have replaced traditional parking meters with designated kiosks that enable drivers to pay by credit card or cash, Shoup suggests more cities should embrace tying a credit card to a license plate and allowing people to pay via smartphone.
Though more common in Europe, pay-by-plate systems have emerged in several U.S. cities, including Pittsburgh. Two years ago, Pittsburgh rolled out a system that asked drivers to submit their plate numbers at the kiosks and then pay by credit card or cash. The concept removes the process of printing new receipts to display on car dashboards and allows drivers to re-park their cars in the same zone without repeating the transaction. Police officers can also scan a plate to see if its driver has paid rather than searching for payment receipts. The new system has led to an increase in parking revenue for Pittsburgh, according to Shoup, as well as a decline in tickets issued as more people are using the easy process rather than taking the risk of receiving a ticket.
Offer discounts for greener cars
Environmental concern is increasingly playing a bigger role in new government initiatives, and Shoup explains that cities should implement green incentives into parking systems. For example, drivers can receive a discount for smaller cars that take up less space. By rewarding tiny sets of wheels, the city encourages residents to reduce the amount of emissions — saving on environmental cost.
Charge fees based on size
Streets come in all different sizes and so do parking spaces. Which is why Shoup suggests cities consider charging fees based on car length. Aside from the fact that smaller cars tend to be more fuel efficient, Shoup adds that they enable more cars to park in the same amount of space than large vehicles allow for.  In many cases, street parking does not have lines to demarcate car spaces, which is why charging more for larger cars would discourage people from driving bigger cars in the city. “Most people who can afford to buy a longer car can probably afford to pay more to park it,” Shoup says.
Give residents a price break
Members of a community already pay taxes for local street maintenance and municipal parking garages, so rewarding them with a resident discount is not too much of a stretch. Local discounts can also help garner support for adding more parking meters to manage the system. Miami Beach, for example, gives its citizens a lower meter rate than non-residents and visiting tourist ($1 versus $1.75 per hour). That system also encourages locals to shop closer to home to receive the rate — ultimately decreasing driving and congestion.
Be charitable with earnings
While much of collecting parking fees is about making more revenue, Shoup adds that it can take on a different type of investment. Communities can be more innovative by donating portions to local nonprofits or park rehabilitation programs. For example, the Ventura, Calif., neighborhood used parking revenue to pay for safety patrol, as well as to implement public WiFi.
MORE: How an Innovative Parking Program May Cut Downtown Traffic by One Third

Why Fake Brick Makes for a Better Sidewalk

Bricks: A classic material used across the country to construct everything from buildings and walls to sidewalks.
Americans love the familiar look, but increasingly, towns and cities are having a hard time justifying the clay-based material — especially as it ages.
But now, innovations in asphalt treatment and decoration are allowing surfaces to offer the same great look but without the bricks, according to the Washington Post.
So, how do these new crosswalks and sidewalks go from looking just like the surface of a road to resembling authentic brickwork?
First, the asphalt is heated, then a metal grid with the desired brick pattern is laid on top (think of it as a giant cookie cutter). This creates a pretty convincing brick-like indentation, which then comes to life through a paint or plastic coloring to complete the look.
Primarily offered by Quest Construction Products and Ennis-Flint, these ingenious surfaces offer countless advantages over traditional brick. Changes in the underlying soil often causes bricks to dislodge, but that won’t happen with these new paths since they are made of contiguous material. Not only does this make surfaces safer for pedestrians, but also easier to maintain – especially considering the toll a tough winter takes on our sidewalks and crosswalks.
Additionally, since the cracks in between traditional bricks are no longer a factor, unsightly weeds will not take over sidewalks. People also won’t be tempted to steal bricks – yes, that actually happens – as there won’t be any to remove.
A civil engineer for Boston’s public works department, Bob Astrella knows a thing or two about this subject. He boasted to the Washington Post, “this is a hell of a lot easier to repair than brick crosswalks,” adding that brick “looks nice, but there’s a maintenance issue.”
Thanks to this new advancement, public surfaces in cities and towns across the country are going to get a whole lot safer, and much easier to maintain, too.
MORE: These Solar-Powered Roads Transmit Helpful Information onto Your Windshield

Better, Faster, Stronger: Why Ohio is Sending Government Officials to Boot Camp

As the summer heats up, Ohio officials are heading to boot camp to shape up and earn white, yellow, green and black belts.
Despite the martial arts belt system, government workers are not there to learn kicking techniques. Rather, they’re being educated on how to maximize efficiency through streamlining processes, strategic planning and data analysis from LeanOhio, a statewide network providing a series of programs and certification to help state employees improve government services.
Government and municipal workers can attend a five-day intensive training, the LeanOhio Bootcamp, or attend one of the several sessions in the LeanOhio Training Academy — which allows participants to achieve credibility measured through the martial-arts system of white to yellow to green to black belts. The academy also offers participants a chance to prove their management chops by implementing an action plan after they return to work. If they’re successful, workers receive a camouflage belt.
During the 40-hour boot camp, participants identify redundant processes and discuss ways to eliminate wasteful steps as well as how to incorporate the Six Sigma process improvement system, with the goal of making government “simpler, faster, better, and less costly,” according to the website.
Courses are offered each week this month and into August throughout the state including in areas such as Cincinnati, Elyria, Bay Village and Columbus. College towns like Athens and Kent will also offer training sessions. Scholarships to attend are also available through the Local Government Efficiency Program.

“We really feel excited that the results we got in state government were such that now there’s an opportunity for cities, counties and local governments to get access to this to get those same kinds of results,” said Steve Wall, director of continuous improvement for the state of Ohio.

LeanOhio contends that for every $1 invested into the program’s activities in 2013, the state gained more than $40 in projected savings, Government Executive reports.

For Sherri Scheetz, chief administrative officer for the Akron Metropolitan Housing Authority, boot camp was a chance to learn how to be as effective as possible as budget cuts loom. 

“We are really feeling the crunch as our federal resources dwindle, our properties age and we still maintain high performance,” she said. “This is the way we will be able to build capacity even in the face of all these cuts and continue to provide the best of service. And that’s our purpose in being, to serve the public.”
MORE: Governmental Technology Difficulties Abound, Yet the Future Looks Bright