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MTA - Parking Meter Program, Pay-By-Cell Phone Pilot Project - 107163

Information provided by Municipal Transportation Agency

SFMTA’s newest initiative is the Pay-By-Cell Phone Pilot Project for San Francisco’s Parking Meter Program which will begin on September 10, 2007, and will last for 90 days. The goal of the Pilot Project is to:

Test pay by cell phone technology on City owned off-street parking lots; and
Determine customer usage of credit card payment by cell phone as an alternative to coins on single space parking meters.

With a pay by cell phone system, drivers can call a local or toll-free phone number posted on a meter to set up their initial customer account. During this initial set up, drivers will be asked to provide a credit card number. After an account is established, the driver’s cell phone number will be automatically linked with their account, and they can begin to pay for meter time with their cell phone by entering the eight digit meter number and the amount of time they need. They will also receive a text message reminder before time runs out and can add more time (up to the time limit) without having to return to the meter.

Services will be provided by three different companies that handles three different areas within San Francisco.

Vendor

City-Owned Off-Street Parking Lot

Verrus Mobile Technologies, Inc.

(Inner Richmond Area)

Test Date

9/10/07-12/10/07

324 8^th Avenue @ Clement Street
330 9^th Avenue @ Clement Street
18^th Avenue @ Geary Blvd
5732 Geary Blvd @ 21^st Avenue

New Parking, Inc.

(Lakeside Village and West Portal Area)

Test Date

9/13/07-12/13/07

2500 Ocean Avenue @ Junipero Serra Blvd
3000 19^th Avenue @ Ocean Avenue
807 Ulloa Street @ Clairmont Blvd
174 West Portal Avenue @ 14^th Avenue

Zipidy, Inc.

(Marina Area)

Test Date

9/18/07-12/18/07

3252 Pierce Street @ Lombard Street

During the pilot project, a driver must set up a separate account in each test area. For example, a driver that has established an account with Verrus Mobile Technologies, Inc. for the 8^th Avenue parking lot in the Inner Richmond will have to establish a new account with Zipidy, Inc. when they park in the Pierce Street lot in the Marina. This allows the SFMTA to evaluate and compare multiple technologies at the same time.

SFMTA will also be evaluating the various methods used by companies to charge fees to drivers for the pay-by-cell phone service. One company will charge a $0.35 per transaction customer service fee, one company will charge a $5.00 per month user fee, and one company will provide the service for free.

To check the parking status of each space, an Enforcement Officer monitors each meter with a wireless handheld ticketing device. The handheld device receives real-time data from a server at an off-site location, which signals to the Enforcement Officer whether a space is paid or not. The technology also allows DPT Administration to view which parking spaces are paid or not paid in real-time through the Internet.

During this 90-day pilot period, SFMTA will be collecting customer comments on the new technology through a phone number displayed on the paystations: (415) 503-2060.