New Solar Parking Meters at Washington and Sixth

If you are in the area around Washington and Sixth, take a look at the new parking meters the city is testing out. There are a couple of interesting features with these new meters that might make them feasible for the city of Royal Oak for many years to come. While I did not have the direct opportunity to try one out, I did have the chance to talk to a few people who did.

The new meters being tested at Washington and Sixth are solar powered. Why is it that they need electricity for a parking meter you ask? There are actually many uses for electricity for these new solar parking meters.

First off, the city's parking system can remotely check these solar meters to make sure they are running properly. They can know automatically if the machines are working, how much money they are taking in, and make any changes to the rates. Also, the parking meters accept credit cards.

I spoke to Stephen Thomas of Berkley, who was using one of the solar parking meters when I walked up. He said he was concerned about using the wireless credit card reader. He explained, "I work for a computer security company. There are too many possibilities that could go wrong with a unit like this if someone in the area has certain types of equipment that could read these frequencies." He also said he thought the machine was fast at processing his cash payment. He also liked the fact that he did not have to turn a cold dial.

If the government of Royal Oak finds these new solar parking meters to be effective, expect more of them to pop up around the city.