Don’t Have a Quarter for the Meter? Use Your Cell

Donna Goodison writers in today’s Boston Herald about an ingenious idea. “It could answer Boston’s pesky parking meter woes.

Instead of fishing for a quarter to feed the meter – or jamming it – dial your cell phone. Representatives of a Finnish company were in the Boston area this week pitching its cashless cell-phone parking technology, first introduced in high-tech Nordic countries in 2001. Nextpark Corp.’s system – billed as fraud- and vandal-proof – eliminates the need for parking meters or ticketing machines altogether.

After finding a parking space, drivers with a Nextpark account use their cell phone or other wireless device to dial the Nextpark service number. They select the corresponding parking spot and how long they expect to park.

When their time is about to run out, Nextpark makes a call or sends a text message to their cell phones. Drivers can then opt to extend the time by phone – no need to dash out of a business meeting to put more quarters in the meter.

Parking enforcement officers are equipped with a mobile phone or special hand-held device that can download data to monitor against scofflaws. It was recently reported that more than 25 percent of the city’s 7,000 parking meters are out of service on a given day.