
Performance Parking - mind_heist
http://www.cmu.edu/homepage/computing/2014/summer/performance-parking.shtml
======
pionar
So, this is nothing new. People in the parking industry have been grappling
with this problem for years (I'm in that industry). Parking technology has
just rocketed ahead from where it was even 5 years ago. From license plate
recognition (LPR - allows parking without having a physical permit) to being
able to forecast and adjust prices based on historical demand, parking people
have a vast wealth of knowledge on their hands.

The only problem is, most vendors of parking management software have
enterprise products spanning millions of lines of code that have to be
maintained, and it's hard to keep adding new features like "performance
parking" while keeping basic features like selling permits and interfacing
with accounting and bursar systems up-to-date.

It's definitely a challenging (yet exciting!) time to be in the parking
technology industry.

Edit: Ooh, I'm forgetting about smart meters, mobile apps (both for the parker
and the parking operation), and more. Mobile apps are the rage now for parking
operations, as they replace expensive ($5000+) industrial handhelds for
parking enforcement agents.

~~~
mind_heist
Hmm interesting ... if I may ask a couple of more questions .. What devices
did you previously use ? and I suppose these were manufactured by a company
specialized in the parking industry ?

And What are the new Apps that have replaced the heavy handheld of the
previous generation ?

~~~
pionar
No, the devices were general purpose handheld devices running Windows Mobile
6. The apps are private and only distributed to customers. They are not
available in app stores.

[0][http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/pa/IT-9000/](http://www.casio-
intl.com/asia-mea/en/pa/IT-9000/)

~~~
mind_heist
Hmm .. interesting ; thanks for you reply :) So, if the city bought these in
mass , who programmed them for you ? I suppose these were then given to third
party companies to program

1.Like Enter the header for the printed out tickets

2.Relay back information about total number of tickets issued etc., etc., ?
Did all of the information on these devices automatically roll over to
centralized servers ? Or did you have to manually plug it into a computer and
sync data ? Did the third party companies ever write such software for you ?
or were they predominantly standalone terminals involved paperwork later on ?
for example : you have to input the parking ticket number again in a computer
later on ?

~~~
pionar
We do the programming :)

Most devices like this have an online and an offline mode, using cellular or
WiFi connections. The process is usually, the officer writes the ticket, if
it's in online mode, it transmits that to a web service, which then enters it
in a database. If it's offline, it just stores it until it goes online.

------
mousetraps
Seattle actually has a similar sign-based system in place. I rarely have
trouble finding a spot, but I moved here recently so unsure how it compares to
previous system.
[http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/signs_icons.ht...](http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/signs_icons.htm)

------
facepalm
Why not make an auction? That would be fun. Vote with smartphone and/or
terminal on the street.

~~~
gambiting
If your definition of "fun" is arriving at a parking lot not knowing if there
will be a spot or how much you will be paying then yes, sure - mountains of
fun.

~~~
facepalm
Isn't that the normal state of affairs already? Or rather, usually you know
that there won't be a spot unless you go hunting for half an hour or so.

The idea would of course be to book the spot in advance, so you WOULD know
that there is a parking lot waiting for you.

~~~
bengali3
coincidentally

>Isn't that the normal state of air fares already

------
lucraft
Aww I thought it was going to be videos of people doing amazing parking stunts

~~~
lelf
Here's some for you (it's an old ad so thinks it's ok here)
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RHXg5s7wv8](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RHXg5s7wv8)

------
Goopplesoft
If you guys check the file
([http://www.lq.com/lq/data/hotelMarkers.js](http://www.lq.com/lq/data/hotelMarkers.js))
its not actually valid json but rather Javascript, so it was probably just
easier for him that way.

~~~
x3c
wrong thread

