"Parking Downtown: There’s an app for that"

[TheCat]

streetline Inc. Senior Vice President Pete Salgado and Mayor Alvin Brown unveiled the “Parker” system Tuesday along Laura Street.Finding an empty metered parking space Downtown could soon be a little easier near Laura Street when the City tests a smartphone app parking guidance system.Mayor Alvin Brown announced Tuesday a pilot program to evaluate the "Parker" system from Foster City, Calif.-based Streetline Inc.Sensors will be installed in the pavement at parking spaces and motorists will be able to find available spaces by using an iPhone and Android mobile device."We want to make Downtown as accessible as possible. We're embracing technology," Brown said.

http://www.jaxdailyrecord.com/downtowntoday.php?dt_date=2013-02-06

[Spence]

being a nerd, this is more than marginally awesome, especially for Jacksonville!

[Noone]

Will this technology have the same result of the red light cameras and will then know immediately when your time has expired and will charge your account accordingly?

If not, then why not?

[airdalecv59]

This sensor only let"s you know that  the space is avaiable. On the app you can set a timer to go off to let you know that your time will expire. 

[ben says]

Great news, although I doubt it'll work in the long run. Like most things, it takes time to catch on. Unless you've read the article, know someone who works for the city, or spend a ton of time downtown, you'd never know the app exists. This is a pilot program and a pilot program only, capped at THREE months. I think it's entirely shortsighted. If they want it to take off, keep it around for longer than three months to test its viability.

[TheCat]

The technology looks pretty cool.  It is intended to generate revenue. Or, at least manage parking money for cities across the globe. IBM is invested in this company in some manner. Coincidence?

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37424.wss

http://www.streetline.com/company/partners/

You can watch a video of the technology on the link below. It requires an email address to watch.

http://my.brainshark.com/ParkSight-for-Cities-509952232

Company:
http://www.streetline.com/

At an expense of 15 to 20 dollars per/space I doubt the sales pitch is anything less then "you can expect to generate 1000x more."

[peestandingup]

Dumb for a number of reasons. One is the cost to operate (as mentioned in the article). Two, if they truly wanted to make "downtown as accessible as possible" then they'd just do away with meters altogether. Three, are people REALLY clamoring to get to downtown so much that there's a real issue with finding somewhere to park? I've never witnessed that except for really big events (like Jazzfest).

And its simply flawed by design. By the time you actually see somewhere to park on your app, get to the spot, etc, then there's a real chance the space could be already filled. And no one should drive & be looking down at an app on their phone. Thats worse than texting while driving, which apparently is frowned upon, but this is cool. Um, OK.

This sounds like nothing more than another half assed effort to combat a problem that really shouldn't even exist in the first place due to bad policies & poor infrastructure. Someone's probably getting some kickbacks for this nonsense. "Future" my ass. Leave it to Jacksonville.

[tufsu1]

Like most things, it takes time to catch on. Unless you've read the article, know someone who works for the city, or spend a ton of time downtown, you'd never know the app exists.

yep...just like Instagram and Snapchat....oh wait....never mind

[ben says]

Like most things, it takes time to catch on. Unless you've read the article, know someone who works for the city, or spend a ton of time downtown, you'd never know the app exists.

yep...just like Instagram and Snapchat....oh wait....never mind

We're really comparing Instagram with a downtown Jacksonville parking program? Wow

Listen, I think it's as cool as the next guy (or girl), I just think it'll take more than 3 months to catch on in a city like Jacksonville.

[kreger]

Peestandingup is spot on. I have never had a problem finding parking downtown, unless it's Jazz Fest or some large event and for those I ride my bike or walk 10 blocks max. I ain't got time for an app like that.

P.S. Alvin quit wasting your time with stupid apps, we don't need a hurricane app and we don't need a parking app.