LA Installs IPS Group: Boosting City Revenue

Newly installed meters generate $230,000 in revenue in one month. City uses California-based IPS Group for lease-to-own technology deal.

SAN DIEGO, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire/ — IPS Group, Inc., a San Diego-based high-tech parking meter company, today announced the completion of the installation of 10,000 new coin and credit-card parking meters throughout the city of Los Angeles.

Leading the State in a progressive approach, Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and Councilmember Tom LaBonge of Los Angeles last week announced that the new meters have provided the city with a big boost in revenue and have exceeded city official’s expectations. In September alone, the newly installed meters generated $230,000 in additional net revenue. If the trend continues, the meters could generate an additional $2 – 2.5 million in revenue annually, which is almost double what the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) originally projected.

The Los Angeles meter program was procured without up-front capital expenses. Rather than purchasing the meters upfront, the City is in a lease-to-own agreement with IPS Group, Inc. “With so many cities facing budget crises, increasing revenue through parking is a trend that is being seen in numerous cities in California,” said Dave King, president and CEO of IPS Group. “The cities of Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, Laguna Beach, and Manhattan Beach are also implementing the new technology. Cities hope to replicate the success seen in Los Angeles by offering credit card transactions at meters and managing their parking operations more efficiently via the meter’s web-based management system.” Beyond California, cities such as Denver, CO, Washington, DC and Eugene, OR are enjoying the same enhanced revenue and strong public support, King said. IPS Group currently has meters in 45 cities in the United States and Canada.

The unique approach by San-Diego based IPS Group, Inc. is that the single space parking meters are designed to retrofit into existing housings. Only a new meter mechanism and top cover of the meter are needed. Therefore, it is a very economical way to upgrade without any changes to infrastructure or need for additional hardware and equipment. “By reusing our existing poles and using clean solar power, these new coin and card meters are a win-win for customers, the city and the environment,” Mayor Villaraigosa said in a press statement last week.

King said another large California city conducted a trial with the new meters and cited not only an increase in revenue, but a 44 percent reduction in citation appeals and an impressive 96 percent reduction in staff time of data collection and review.

“We are delighted to offer our revolutionary meters to our neighboring California cities. The IPS meters save taxpayers money by decreasing costs to the city, incorporating energy-saving solar power, and provide the added convenience of using your credit card,” said King. “With the IPS meters you pay right where you park, at your space. I always hear from people that they are so relieved to finally have this option.”

About IPS Group, Inc.

San Diego-based IPS Group, Inc. is a design, engineering and manufacturing company focused on low power wireless telecommunications and parking technologies. IPS manufactures locally and has been delivering world-class solutions to the telecommunications and parking industries for over 15 years. IPS Group is the only provider of a solar-powered, credit card enabled, single-space parking meter in the World. The end result is greater convenience for motorists, real time parking data for the City, and a battery life that can exceed three years.

With 45 clients in trials or contracts in over twenty five U.S. cities from coast-to-coast, IPS Group is experiencing rapid growth, tripling the workforce in one year. The Clean Technology Award given by TechAmerica in 2009 is an example of current marketplace success.