‘Smart’ parking meters not so smart after all

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- It looks as though the newly unveiled “smart” parking

meters have failed the test and -- if parking control officers have their

way -- they will be removed.

“They’re awful!” said parking control officer Nickol Frantzich on Sunday,

when 85-degree temperatures brought crowds of people to Newport Beach.

“Most of them aren’t even working.”

Newport -- only the second U.S. city to try to the new devices -- got its

first taste this weekend of the futuristic meter, which is supposed to

firmly enforce time limits. The meters were installed on Balboa Boulevard

near the Newport Pier and between Palm and Main streets and were on trial

for 90 days.

Sold as a parking meter that will sense when drivers feed it beyond its

one-hour limit -- the City Council voted to test out the new devices. In

theory, the new meter is also able to sense when a car leaves with time

remaining and can reset itself to zero time.

The problem is it doesn’t work.

On it’s first big weekend, seven of the meters broke and showed no sign

of life whatsoever. The insensitive machines gluttonously swallowed coins

but gave no time in return. Another problem, Frantzich said, is that many

non-English speaking beachgoers don’t understand the complex wording

taped onto the top of the meters.

“They can’t understand the word “vacate” she said.

If that isn’t enough, Frantzich added, tourists and residents alike don’t

even know what a “smart” meter is.

The original purpose for installing the devices was to discourage

beachgoers from parking in metered spaces all day, instead of spending

money at the neighborhood businesses.

But instead of attracting money-spending tourists, Frantzich and other

parking attendants found themselves surrounded by irate car owners. They

were bitter that the meters swallowed their money, that they had tickets

slapped onto their windshields and that couldn’t even back out to reset

the meters because of the traffic congestion.

Frantzich and other parking attendants plan to tell the Traffic

Engineering Department to either fix them or take them out completely.

“This has been the worst day and I’ve been here for three years,”

Frantzich said.