Policy Order O-4

WHEREAS: Metered parking spots are a limited resource in the City of Cambridge and drivers often are forced to waste time trying to find spots and locate the necessary change to pay for a coin operated parking meter; and

WHEREAS: Researchers from MIT's Senseable City Lab estimate that the average American spends fifty hours yearly looking for parking, which wastes fuel, increases pollution, and exacerbates traffic congestion; and

WHEREAS: Cities like Boston, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., have introduced "smart" parking systems, which integrate re-usable meter cards, smartphone apps to pay for parking, solar powered meters, multi-spot meters, flexible use spots to host shared cars, and mobile applications that act as spot finders to ease parking congestion; and

WHEREAS: Other leading cities have also introduced demand based parking, which reduces rates when demand for spots is low, and increases rates when demand is high. This helps induce greater spot turnover; and

WHEREAS: Many cities have seen an increase in parking revenue after replacing traditional meters with smart meters due to increased turnover and more efficient parking spot usage; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the appropriate department heads to investigate the feasibility of implementing "smart" parking solutions in the City of Cambridge, including: multi-spot meters, demand based price structuring, solar powered meters, RFID payment, floating car share vehicle spots as Boston is pursuing, pay by phone, meters that accept credit/debit or rechargeable parking card, and smart phone application integration; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to report back to the City Council with a plan to implement "smart" parking solutions in Cambridge.