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Milwaukee parking sensors, real-time data
In Milwaukee, it’s not just parking enforcement keeping an eye on your car. New technology has the potential to change how we park and maybe what we can get away with.
MILWAUKEE - In Milwaukee, it’s not just parking enforcement keeping an eye on your car. New technology has the potential to change how we park.
On the 700 block of North Milwaukee, you can find new black boxes on meters and signposts. They’re Vehicle Detection Sensors, part of a new pilot program as the city looks into getting real-time information on parking availability.
Made by CivicSmart in West Allis, the sensors use radio waves, according to the company's website, to detect vehicles.
Even when you put it in park, technology keeps moving forward.
"It’s definitely getting more advanced," said Ashraf Assad, who parks downtown.
"I think the more technology the better," said Lucas Simon, who was parking downtown Thursday afternoon. "There’s no avoiding it."
Though you may not have noticed the new black boxes on meters and signposts, they can see your car.
"There’s a lot you can probably do with it," said Xander Morales, who lives in the area and has to find parking often.
According to CivicSmart’s website, the sensors can monitor where cars are parking, show available parking spaces on apps and offer on-street parking reservations.
"You could maybe do something like that and have that integrated in the app where, you know, there’s a few spots over here, over there," said Morales. "It might help. It might make it a lot worse, too, because then the (meter) maids know when people have been there too long."
The sensors can also show when cars are parked without paying, allow variable pricing depending on demand and increase money the city brings in by resetting meter time to zero when a car leaves.
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"It sounds interesting in the fact that it allows people to see what parking spots are open and what aren’t, but it’s also like, if it clears the meter after someone leaves, that might be a little questionable," said Assad. "It’s always a win to not have to pay for it."
Despite all those potential uses, the city isn’t there yet. A spokesperson for the Department of Public Works said the only current goals of the pilot project are to see how accurate the sensors are and gather real-time information on the availability of parking.
"I think it’s useful for the city to know when and where people are parking," said Simon.
Anything beyond that, we’ll have to wait and see what happens down the road.
Right now, the sensors are just on one block, but DPW officials said more are being installed in several parts of the city – 75 for the first phase of this project and up to 125 more later. They cost $245 each. DPW officials said they have a deal to pay one-third of that.