90A - UPDATE ON SINGLE-SPACE PARKING METER FIELD TRIAL PROGRAM

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REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: DECEMBER 3, 2012 TITLE: RECEIVE AND FILE REGARDING SINGLE- SPACE PARKING METER FIELD TRIAL PROGRAM CITY MANAGER DISCUSSION CLERK OF COUNCIL USE ONLY: APPROVED ? As Recommended ? As Amended ? Ordinance on 15t Reading ? Ordinance on 2nd Reading ? Implementing Resolution ? Set Public Hearing For CONTINUED TO FILE NUMBER In recent years, the Downtown area has seen significant changes to the area with the addition of new offices, retail, entertainment venues, restaurant and residential uses. These positive changes have presented the city with the opportunity to explore improvements to our current metered parking equipment to enhance the parking experience for a wider range of patrons. There are approximately 1,300 metered parking spaces in the City with 530 metered parking spaces in the downtown area. Currently, the traditional parking meters only accept coins. Faced with new parking challenges and the fact that many people are carrying limited cash/change, many cities are converting to smart meters that conveniently accept credit and debit cards as well as coins and are seeing revenue enhancement between 20-30 percent with the upgraded technology. Based on the successes of smart parking meters in other cities, the city is interested in entering into a trial 90-day term agreement with IPS Group, Inc. and First National Bank of Omaha/TSYS Merchant Solutions, LLC to sample 50 single-space meters that accept multiple payment options and ten space sensors that detect when a vehicle departs. This San Diego-based company has been the leader in intelligent single-space parking meter technology for over 15 years. Their product can be seen in over 40 cities in the United States and Canada as well as several nearby communities. In an effort to sample different areas in the Downtown and to receive feedback from users, the trial meters would be placed on high demand blocks of east and west 4th Street, N. Broadway and N. Sycamore. In addition to the 50 smart meters, we will also sample ten space sensors to be placed in the ground to detect the presence or absence of a vehicle. The sensors provide the ability to add courtesy time on the meter, supports anti-meter feeding and typically increases revenues by having spaces reset when a vehicle departs. 90A-1