New ideas to make parking easier

SFpark Overview from SFpark on Vimeo.

SF's transit authority has a bunch of them, part of a two-year federally funded pilot program called SFPark that's trying out new parking technologies and approaches. One is a variation on congestion pricing, where metered parking rates will be raised or lowered according to demand. Another is the installation of wireless sensors that will allow you to find out, on your phone or laptop, what spaces are available and on what streets. The approach relies heavily on drivers buying into a market-based pricing model. To a limited extent, we already know it happens - as when someone looks for a street space rather than shell out five bucks for a valet. But could you expand such decision-making when it doesn't involve such a wide price variance? It's certainly worth a look.