Imagine paying a parking meter with a credit card, getting a text message before the time runs out and then re-feeding the meter remotely from a cell phone.

The technology already exists – and Mayor Bloomberg wants New York to become the next city to get it.

“What’s interesting to me is that parking has been a neglected place with regard to technology,” said Ted Russ, chief operating officer of Street Smart Technology, an Atlanta-based wireless tech company that makes so-called smart meters. “Over the next five to 10 years, you’ll see an absolute transformation in how cities manage parking.”

Mobile Monitor

Russ’ computer wizards have designed a system that detects empty spaces – so instead of circling the block, drivers can simply consult their mobile phone.

The vehicle-detection technology, a sensor the size of a hockey puck, is installed into the street or adjacent lampposts. Information is transferred using a low-data-rate wireless network, which monitors the space’s availability and tracks payments.

Russ understands that the parking revolution he and others envision will take time. “As good of an idea as this is, and as obvious as it is…cities move very slowly,” he said.

So far, his company’s parking product is being tested in Atlanta, Houston, Reading, Penn., Pacific Grove, Ca., and Decatur, Ga. Russ said he’d love to tap into the New York market: “We are totally in sync with the mayor’s vision and would love an opportunity to make it possible.”

Big Demand

Wiley Norvell, spokesman for the New York-based Transportation Alternatives, said the city should take advantage of the latest technology to make traffic flow better, cutting congestion.

“Essentially, parking supply and demand do not match up, they don’t even come close,” Norvell said, noting that the last big innovation in parking technology – introduction of the first Muni Meters a decade ago – opened more parking spaces in city streets.

Lyn Meene, assistant city manager of Decatur, said the Smart Meter experiment initially suffered from wireless connection problems that subsequently were resolved. The city is monitoring 54 spaces in Decatur’s busiest districts.

“Like any new technology, we’re still looking to see if this is really what we want to stick with or if there’s something else on the horizon,” she said.

In an op-ed piece written for the New York Daily News in September, Bloomberg acknowledged how difficult parking in the city is and promised technological advances to ease the pain were on the way.

City Hall said the project was still in the early stages.

The Muni Meters already are accepting credit cards and NYC parking cards, a prepaid card that can be used in multi-space Muni Meters and some retro-fitted single-space meters.

But potential parking improvements also are coming from efforts outside the city. The iPhone application, Primo Spot, uses Google maps and parking signs to help drivers find spaces on the street and in garages. The $1.99 app also pinpoints bike racks.

A Popular App

“The whole reason we made this project was because this wasn’t a priority,” said the Primo Spot’s creator, Mike Hill. “We think it’s a really good initiative. It makes us really excited that city hall is making this a priority.”

Primo Spot, which boasts about 5,000 customers, displays cover 60 percent to 75 percent of the city’s parking spots. Hill isn’t worried about competition from the city.

“I think if anything, it legitimizes our idea and shows there’s a demand for it,” he said. “We think it’s a good thing.”