The Best Parking Meters Ever

Even under the destructive policies of Scott Walker, good things can still happen. In fact, the second best thing next to universal health care, a parking meter that asks me if I want to add extra time via a text message.

Your cellphone rings. You've got a text message. It's your parking meter calling. The meter wants to let you know that it's about to expire. But if you need more time, you can text it back and tell it to charge your credit card for some extra minutes.

And you won't have long to wait:

jsonline: Starting this summer, hundreds of parking meters in Milwaukee, Madison and Lake Geneva will be exchanging texts just like that with motorists.

 "I never would have imagined this even five years ago," said Bill Knobeloch, Madison parking operationsmanager.

Drivers have been able to pay by credit card at some meters for about five years in Milwaukee and about a year and a half in Madison … In each city, motorists park in a numbered space, walk over to a meter that serves multiple parking places and punch in the number of their space. Then they have a choice of paying by cash or credit card for the number of minutes they want.

I like these parking meters because many don’t know how to use them, leaving the space open for those who do. That’s about to end.