Parking meter upgrades not about convenience
Re “High-Tech Systems Feed Change in Parking Meters,” Sept. 20
The article includes the continuation page headline “New Meters Are Made for Convenience,” but I suspect that user convenience is a distant second concern to municipalities. Since the new meters cost six to 15 times that of conventional $600 meters, there’s clearly an unspoken revenue incentive to justify the new meters. Specifically, the “zero time left reset” feature, in which a meter zeroes out once a car leaves, a feature that will increase parking revenues, which is the true, non-altruistic motive behind these upgrades.
TRACY A. CULP
Valencia
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As a bicyclist, I rely on the single-space parking meter. It’s one of the only secure objects to which I can lock my bike in many areas. If cities choose to replace them with multi-space meter kiosks, they should also add some aesthetically pleasing bike racks. That is the best way to solve parking problems.
BEN GERTNER
Los Angeles
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