Journal Entry #2: The plan of paying the parking fee by cell phnoes

It is annoying to search for a long time for a parking space, and it may be more annoying to operate complicated and inconvenient parking meters after all the hassle. Therefore, we observed some traits of the current parking meters in Seattle and compared them to the traditional parking meters to see what problems remained to be solved as a way to lighten the drivers’ headaches.

Seattle Parking Meter V.S. Traditional Parking Meter:


click to have a better view!


All in all, the Seattle parking meter is better than the traditional parking meter. Some merits of the Seattle parking meter, such as credit cards accepted, number of parking meter reduced, multi-language instructions, are really nice features to the drivers. However, there are still some issues left unsolved shown in the table below:

click to have a better view!

According to the problems above, we came up with the idea of paying the parking fee by cell phones, which may be easier for most people.

The plan of paying the parking fee by cell phones:
First of all, the government has to set up a parking control center, so that everyone can pay their parking fees through cell phone and the traffic patrols can also check out which car has exceeded its parking time or has not paid. To make it more convenient for drivers, the government should set up signs that show the contact number of the parking control center as well as the code number clearly in every block. Drivers can either enter the street name or the code number of the parking spot. The first time parking, drivers will need to step up an account with the parking control center which will include the payment and license plate information, in order to let traffic patrols verify that each car has paid the fee. After this, the information will appear automatically and the drivers will not have to enter it twice. Also, the drivers can always change the information. The third step is to regulate how long a car can park in the space and make sure drivers pay precisely. To prevent any mistakes from happening, the final step is the confirmation.

Text to the parking control center then gets reply:
1. Enter your street name or code number
2. Enter your information: license plate & credit card information
3. You can park here for XXX minutes and how long do you want to park?
4. Confirmation: your license plate is XXX-XXX, credit card number is XXXXXXXXXX and you will park here for XXX minutes. Total payment is $XXX.
5. Text “1” to the parking control center if you want to leave early and get refund. Text “2” to add more money and you can park longer.

The whole idea solves the problems generated by Seattle parking meter. The instruction will become clear with step by step instructions through text massages. Drivers do not have to read confusing and awkwardly placed instructions. It is friendly to elders and those with disabilities for they do not have to walk back and forth from their cars and the parking meter. If they cannot find the code number, they can enter the street name. There is no necessary to waste a lot of stickers and ink, which is good to the environment and also reduce the cost. However, a problem still exists. Foreign visitors who do not have cell phones or visitors from other cities all over the U.S. may not able to pay the fee. Some people who do not trust the electronic transaction or not comfortable to pay with cell phones may feel uneasy. To satisfy different needs, the original Seattle parking meter has to co-exist. Even so, the new way of paying the parking fee may still be worth investigating to reduce certain waste and generate some benefits for the drivers.