Parking Progress

The city of Oakland recently switched from parking meters to new computerized parking pay stations. There are approx. 2 stations per block and drivers walk to the station, pay their money and get a receipt to place on their dash. I don't think these stations better the lives of drivers so I would hope they benefit the city in some way. However, I am not convinced. 

When thinking about the benefits (or draw backs) of this new system it is good to look at the over all concept model (centralized pay stations vs. parking meters) and then how effectively the pay stations have been implemented. 

The benefits of the pay stations for the average driver:

1. They accept credit cards ($1.25 min)

2. You can move your car within the alloted time and not have to pay again. 

The drawbacks of the pay stations for the driver are:

1. Walking to the station instead of having a parking meter at the space

2. Having to return to the car before going on their way

3. Dealing with the used receipts in their car (Huge pet peeve, they are making a mess in my car)

4. If a machine is broken, the driver still has to pay

5. If a machine is broken the driver has to walk further to make a payment

6. There is no parking meter to visually announce that payment is required (Multiple times, in neighborhoods I am familiar with I read the landscape and do not realize I need to pay, once it lead to a ticket)

7. THIS IS A BIGGY - The new system makes it impossible to add time to the meter. You have to wait 'til the time runs out and buy a new ticket. Or just buy an overlapping ticket if you don't want to be by your car when the first one runs out. 

The drawbacks for the city are:

1. Meter Readers need to check each individual car dashboard for a receipt instead of the meter. 

2. The meter reader no longer checks for the expired meter (a yes/no input) but has to check the date and current time vs. the date and time on the receipt (a variable input).

The benefits for the city are:

1. Less machines to maintain

2. Ability to accept credit cards

From the driver's point of you the experience with the pay stations is worse than with parking meters. Sadly, the driver's experience only gets worse when looking at the implementation of the pay stations in Oakland. The fundamental flaw in the user experience is that that screen displays the current time and then as you add money the same clock updates to the end time of your purchase. By using the same clock to show current time and end time it makes it very difficult to track how much time you have purchased. An approach similar to the parking meters where you purchase a number of minutes would be more clear. Another option would be showing the start time and the end time. I don't wear a watch and always fail to track how much time I have purchased.  

However, the biggest loser in this new approach is the environment. Every car in every parking space between 9 and 6, 6 days a week has a little piece of paper on the dash. The number of trees we are killing in order to park our cars is down right depressing. 

The experience of most people suffers with this new approach. I hope there is some benefit to the city to make it worth the experience cost. But I doubt it.