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No Time Left on the Meter -- By Design
"That's two trips to the moon, just hunting for cheap parking," he said.
Low-power radio devices on the IntelliMeters send information to a central hub, where city officials can analyze parking patterns, adjust rates to encourage turnover in high-traffic areas and monitor how effectively city workers enforce parking laws.
  The IntelliMeter takes away the triumph of finding a parking meter with time remaining. (By Preston Keres -- The Washington Post) |
A city could offer a built-in, five- to 15-minute grace period on every meter to give parkers a chance to get change or run quick errands. But it could also prevent meter feeding by locking out additional payments for a car that has been parked for the maximum time allowed for a space. A driver could beat the system by pulling out of the spot, driving around the block and returning to the reset meter, but Hellman said inconvenience should be a deterrent.
Based on tests, Hellman said, revenue increases an estimated 20 percent from zeroing out the meters in low-traffic areas and as much as 50 percent in high-traffic areas. The system in use in some parts of Baltimore, in which drivers buy time from a box on the sidewalk and put receipts in their windows, has increased revenue by 25 percent.
"We know how a standard meter works and what options we have, but what we're curious about is what the new improvements could be," said Hyattsville City Treasurer Robert W. Oliphant. "There's a whole lot of data you can get out of those meters."
The city of Pacific Grove, Calif., installed the magnetic InnovaPark system last year, and revenue increased $180,000. With a total operating budget of $15 million, City Manager James J. Colangelo said, the system has been a success, despite complaints from some tourists.
"That is one of the joys of parking, to pull up to metered parking where there's time left," Colangelo said. "You feel like you have good karma that day, and now you don't get that feeling. But I'm much more willing to throw a few more quarters in than to fight for a spot."
IntelliPark's operation is small so far. The company has eight full-time employees, and a third-party manufacturer makes its parts.
Hellman works in the Bethesda office of his primary investor, Carlton Capital. Outside investors, including Carlton and Winston Partners, co-founded by President Bush's brother, Marvin P. Bush, have invested $5 million to $10 million since 1999.
With a patent for the sonar technology in hand, Hellman said, the company will add a sales and marketing division and research and development employees by the beginning of next year. The next phase of the project will add a component that allows customers to pay remotely and reserve parking places on their cellphones.
"I'm not going to look to expand until I see we're in a position of strength, until we have a major metropolitan customer," Hellman said. His rule for working with a company "is to keep it as small and run it as lean as I can until I have a model for success that's respectable," he said.
