HomeMy WebLinkAbout90A - UPDATE ON SINGLE-SPACE PARKING METER FIELD TRIAL PROGRAMREQUEST FOR
COUNCIL ACTION
CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE:
DECEMBER 3, 2012
TITLE:
RECEIVE AND FILE REGARDING SINGLE-
SPACE PARKING METER FIELD TRIAL
PROGRAM
CITY MANAGER
DISCUSSION
CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY:
APPROVED
? As Recommended
? As Amended
? Ordinance on 15t Reading
? Ordinance on 2nd Reading
? Implementing Resolution
? Set Public Hearing For
CONTINUED TO
FILE NUMBER
In recent years, the Downtown area has seen significant changes to the area with the addition of
new offices, retail, entertainment venues, restaurant and residential uses. These positive changes
have presented the city with the opportunity to explore improvements to our current metered
parking equipment to enhance the parking experience for a wider range of patrons. There are
approximately 1,300 metered parking spaces in the City with 530 metered parking spaces in the
downtown area. Currently, the traditional parking meters only accept coins. Faced with new
parking challenges and the fact that many people are carrying limited cash/change, many cities
are converting to smart meters that conveniently accept credit and debit cards as well as coins and
are seeing revenue enhancement between 20-30 percent with the upgraded technology.
Based on the successes of smart parking meters in other cities, the city is interested in entering
into a trial 90-day term agreement with IPS Group, Inc. and First National Bank of Omaha/TSYS
Merchant Solutions, LLC to sample 50 single-space meters that accept multiple payment options
and ten space sensors that detect when a vehicle departs. This San Diego-based company has
been the leader in intelligent single-space parking meter technology for over 15 years. Their
product can be seen in over 40 cities in the United States and Canada as well as several nearby
communities.
In an effort to sample different areas in the Downtown and to receive feedback from users, the trial
meters would be placed on high demand blocks of east and west 4th Street, N. Broadway and N.
Sycamore. In addition to the 50 smart meters, we will also sample ten space sensors to be placed
in the ground to detect the presence or absence of a vehicle. The sensors provide the ability to
add courtesy time on the meter, supports anti-meter feeding and typically increases revenues by
having spaces reset when a vehicle departs.
90A-1
Receive and File Regarding Single-Space
Parking Meter Field Trial Program
December 3, 2012
Page 2
The IPS smart meters use a mechanism that retrofits into our current meter unit. Therefore, it is a
very economical way to upgrade without any changes to the infrastructure or need for additional
hardware and equipment. The device is solar-powered, uses LED lights to provide visual
enforcement, and will accept coins, tokens, credit/debit cards and smart cards. The data
management system will wirelessly notify parking operations staff of any faults or jams and
provides financial information on each meter. In addition, the change to solar-powered meters will
eliminate the need to replace over 2,400 nine-volt batteries each year.
Prior to and throughout the trial period, staff will initiate a public outreach effort to first, inform all
Downtown stakeholders, residents, and visitors, and secondly, to evaluate the success and
acceptance of the products. Public outreach methods to be utilized will include placing an online
public awareness video and survey on the city website and advertised throughout the city, as well
as a sticker being placed on each trial meter. Downtown Inc. will also be asked to help inform the
public by including an article in their newsletter. Staff will also personally speak with businesses in
the trial areas and parking meter and parking control officers will carry information material. The
IPS Group smart meters will include a variety of management reports to compare current meter
revenues with smart meter revenues on both sensored and non-sensored meters during this trial
period.
In order to use the credit card feature, a valid merchant account is needed prior to the installation.
First National Bank of Omaha, TSYS Merchant Solutions, LLC has provided the best rate to the
City. They will be responsible for the payment process of receiving transactions from the IPS
meters (via the wireless transmission) and depositing the transactions into the bank. The city is
charged a fee of .035 cents per transaction.
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