Mayor Bloomberg

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.”

City traffic enforcement agents could soon be serving up parking tickets with a smile.

Mayor Bloomberg wants to increase sensitivity training for the agents, who issue about 30,000 parking violations daily – a paper trail long enough to cross the Brooklyn Bridge five times.

Edge Training Institute of Ohio is one of the companies courting the city for the training contract.  Edge’s Aaron Ziff said his firm looks at the psychology behind stressful situations. Techniques for diffusing a tension include acknowledging a motorist’s anger and frustration, and explaining how a driver could dispute a ticket.

“We give [traffic agents] an awareness about what occurs in the brain and how their behavior affects other people and themselves when they engage in situations,” said Ziff, whose past clients include Starbucks and the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections.

Etiquette Dispute

James Huntley, president of the union that represents some 3,000 traffic enforcement agents, said it’s drivers who need to learn manners.

“If you go to a bank and don’t qualify for a mortgage loan, you don’t punch the person” working in the bank, Huntley said.

Huntley noted the ticket writers already receive sensitivity training called CPR, which stands for “Courtesy, Professionalism and Respect.” Calmly addressing citizens and walking away from angry drivers are taught.

A traffic enforcement agent, who didn’t want his name used, said an angry driver once attacked him, and he knew of colleagues whose feet were run over by fleeing drivers.

A Bitter Clash

But some motorists charge some traffic enforcement agents are no angels. Days after the mayor proposed more sensitivity training, traffic enforcement agent Twana Chapman allegedly struck Qiang Nian Zhu after he prevented her from scanning his registration sticker by covering it with his hand in Chinatown.

Zhu contends there was a minute left on his Muni Meter ticket and his wife was getting a new one. Witnesses reportedly said Chapman made racially charged remarks. Zhu was arrested for obstructing governmental administration and harassment.

“They need it. They definitely need it, “Julia Kwon, Zhu’s lawyer, said of the proposed training. “If she had gotten the sensitivity training, and heeded it, this situation would never have happened.”

Take Five

It’s unclear how a City Council proposal to give drivers a five-minute grace period after meter expiration will affect relations between motorists and ticket agents. Bloomberg opposes the plan, saying it could lead to more arguments. Edge’s Paul Meshanko said, “If city is look into cutting people some slack that’s a beautiful thing. People aren’t perfect.”

Could less parking tickets be help relations between drivers and agents? That’s not an option said Bloomberg spokesman Marc LaVorga: “We’re not going to not enforce the law. They’re there to ensure that lanes are not blocked. “

During his re-election campaign, Mayor Bloomberg said he wanted to make parking easier by introducing new technologies, like text message updates for expiring meters and GPS-based tracking of vacant spaces.

Community advocates and some merchants say they would be happy if the city simply brings a relatively low-tech parking upgrade to Myrtle Avenue: Muni Meters.

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When they’re not in class, Regis High School seniors Ruben Martinez and Julian Penero spend two to four days a week delivering meals or offering computer tutoring at the Carter Burden Center for the Aging on the upper East Side.

“Whenever we do anything small, whether it’s getting a fork for them or bringing them their meal or helping them figure out how to send an e-mail, they’re always so thankful to us,” said Martinez.

“Sending an e-mail comes by nature to us, but when we help someone do that and they’re so grateful, that’s so rewarding to us,” he said.

The Regis model soon may extend to city public schools.

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