Milwaukee tests 'smart' parking meters that show time remaining, allowing return of 'piggybacking'

People parking downtown Milwaukee are learning new ways — make that three new ways — to plug their meters.

The city is testing the next generation of "smart" meters to replace the current system where drivers remember their space number, walk over to a pay station and hope that the station isn't suffering from a weather or power-related outage or is otherwise on the blink.

The new system will be a blast from the past, with meters at each parking spot, combined with today's technology that allows for smartphone or online payments. Drivers also will be able to see how much time is left on their meter — or how much time was left from the person who just pulled out of the spot, allowing the return of "piggyback" parking

"This is better because it gives me the time remaining," said Pat Risser, who was feeding quarters into one of the test meters Tuesday on Old World Third St. near the Hyatt hotel.

Risser's a bit of an outlier by paying in cash. Those who now pay with the MKE Park app on their phones can see the remaining time and receive alerts when time is close to expiring. The city is requiring that the new meters work with the MKE app, which has been used for 850,000 transactions since it was launched in 2015, according to the Department of Public Works.

A total of 344 smart meters from three vendors are part of the test, Each functions a little differently, but each accepts payments with coins, credit or debit cards and through the MKE Park app. Two of the three test meters serve single spots. The third is a tandem style — one unit takes payments for spaces on either side of the meter.

The test meters are located in some of the city's busiest parking areas: the Historic Third Ward; Brady St. neighborhood; Old World Third St.; Oakland Ave. and Locust St.; and on E. North Ave.

In the test areas, the old mid-block pay stations are covered with hoods that explain the area is part of a "pilot project" and directing people to the new meters or to pay with the app.

The new smart meters will eventually replace all of the aging meters and pay stations that now serve about 7,100 parking spots, mostly in the downtown area.

City officials expect to complete evaluations of the new meters in June, and negotiate a contract with the vendor in July, according to the request for proposals issued by the city earlier this year.

The current pay station system began in 2007 and serves 3,099 spots. Cost of the new meters will be part of the negotiations between the city and the vendor chosen for the work, the city said.

Risser said she didn't care for the current pay stations because drivers couldn't see how much time remained on the meter. 

She noted that with the current pay stations the city can collects twice in some instances.

"They're playing the float on this," she said. "They can collect twice."

A recent story by Today's TMJ4 reviewed parking records in two city blocks and determined that the city was paid twice for parking 118 times in a one-week period.

According to the Legislative Reference Bureau's review of the latest budget, the city plans to spend $1.65 million on the smart meters.

The budget review noted that "the department has yet to determine what portion will include 'sensors' to detect if the parking space is in-use or empty." 

Information collected by such sensors "can be shared with motorists to assist them in determining where parking is available, allow the potential for navigation to parking spaces/areas, and provide information specific to restrictions/rates," DPW said in an email.

Risser said some thrifty drivers will be very happy if they are once again able to find a downtown meter with time remaining.

"My dad and father-in-law would drive around for hours downtown to find a meter with time left," she said with a laugh.