If you drive a car, contact your city’s parking authority and tell them you want to see PhotoViolationMeter meters on your streets. While normally parking meters rank about the same as vinyl flooring, lawn rakes and tea kettles on The Big Scale of Exciting Innovations, these new units from Photo Violation Technologies actually deliver on the promise that technology will make our lives both easier and more enjoyable.

The meters, which look a little like small shiny robots, allow drivers to pay for parking using coins, credit or debit cards. Standard stuff these days. But the meters are also connected to the Internet, and that opens up a whole new level of functionality.

For example, you can give the thing your cell number and it will call to warn you when your time is about to expire. You can then top up the time using your cellphone. That means you won’t be greeted by a parking ticket when you return from that longer-than-expected meeting. Alternately, you can tell the meter to top up your parking if you don’t return, so if you expect to be parked for two hours you can pay for two hours but tell the meter to automatically add another two hours if you don’t return in time.

However, for those who do overstay their paid welcome, the meters also automate the ticketing process. When you park it takes a photo of your license plate, and that makes it a lot easier for municipalities to collect fines. Violators can also pay their tickets on the spot, through the meter.

All of this is cool and makes street parking less of a headache, but here’s my favourite bit about this product: because the meters are already connected to the Internet, and because Internet access is so cheap to provide, the company has made each meter into a free Wi-Fi hotspot. That means you can sit in your car before a meeting and read last-minute e-mails or check some details for your upcoming presentation.

It also means that installing these meters essentially creates a grid of hotspots, giving municipalities a cost-effective way to check Wi-Fi off their To-Do lists. Yes, these high-tech meters come at a cost but if they increase parking revenue and make it easier to collect fines, while also creating Wi-Fi access for citizens and visitors, it’s tough to see a downside to this innovative product.

Details here. http://www.photoviolation.com/index.php.
 
Peter Wolchak